Prologue: Harry PotterTwilight Crossover
by julvett
Summary: Okay, it's finished now!  Thanks to the people who read it... please R&R to tell me what you think. Written pre Eclipse
1. Chapter 1

This story gives an insight into the lives of characters before the Harry Potter and the Twilight Series began, and shows how each of them has affected another's life. For all intents and purposes, time frames set by the authors can be ignored; we're going on the assumption that dates in Harry Potter are different than that of Twilight. To get a general idea of how the plots fall together, the Potters death is around the end of New Moon.

**Sirius and Remus**

Sirius and Sam crawled to shore where Remus sat on the beach, exhausted.

"It's not the jump that's that hard part," panted Sam, "It's trying to get out of that current." They sat in silence, reflecting over their exhilarating dive off the cliff. It was the day before Sirius' 11th birthday, and his uncle had told him that he was finally old enough to jump from the highest point on the cliff. Although Remus was already of age, and Sam had always been allowed despite being several years younger, had waited so that they could all experience the dive together. And although drained, they thought it was every bit as good as they hoped it would be.

The three boys lounged back on the beach. Sirius wiped his long hair out of his eyes. All three of them were extremely thin and pale. Sam however, was much bigger and muscular than the other two, and his father always made him keep his hair very short, whereas Remus and Sirius never really bothered with haircuts; it always grew back within a few hours.

Sam turned to Sirius and grinned. "So, what time can I come over tomorrow to give you your birthday present?"

What should have been an innocent question sent flickers of nervousness across the faces of Sirius and Remus. They looked at each other, knowing they needed to tell Sam now. They knew that they should've told him earlier, but they were both afraid it would ruin their summer together. Remus glanced over and said carefully, "There's something Sirius and I gotta tell you, Sam."

"What?" Sam asked curiously.

Sirius gazed out into the ocean. "We're not going to be here tomorrow."

"So, big deal, I'll give it to you when you come back," Sam said casually, misreading their concerned faces. "Where are you going?"

"Actually Sam, we can't go to school together, either," Lupin said, breaking the news slowly. "You see, Sirius and I have been accepted to this—different type of school, and tomorrow we need to buy some supplies that we can't get here in La Push."

"For real?" asked Sam, starting to get upset. "You guys are just leaving me here?"

"We'll be here for the rest of the summer," Sirius said quickly. "We'll come back after tomorrow, but we leave for the school in September."

"What school? Where is it?" asked Sam.

"It's in London," said Lupin.

"What school?" Sam asked again.

"You won't have heard of it," Sirius said shortly.

Sam threw his head back and closed his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me this before?" Neither answered. "Look guys, you're my best friends. I can't believe you'd leave me here while you both go off to London. I mean, why do you even have to leave anyway? What's so great about London anyway?"

"Look, it's just my parents. They decided it would be better for us there… but we'll back for the holidays and stuff," Remus explained.

"Yeah," Sirius grinned. "It's not like we can't stay friends or anything." He patted Sam on the back. "You'll be seeing a lot more of us than you want to, trust me." Sam didn't smile. He got up and started to leave.

"Aw, c'mon Sam," called Sirius.

"We should've told him earlier," whispered Lupin.

"Too bad he can't go with us," sighed Sirius. The two followed Sam up the beach, but they saw Sam had already headed back for home. "He'd love it." At the beginning of the summer, Remus and Sirius had both gotten letters of acceptance to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Although they couldn't have been more excited, they expected it to be awkward when they had to break the news to Sam, knowing how he'd react. Of course, they were forbidden them to tell anyone what type of school it was, which made it all the harder to explain why they were leaving their perfectly fine school in La Push to go halfway around the world.

"See you tomorrow, Sirius," said Remus as they arrived at his house half and hour later.

"Yeah, see you," replied Sirius as he turned down the path to his own house. He sighed. He had never looked forward to anything more in his life, and he wished Sam could take part in it.

Sirius groaned. Someone was shaking him. "Get up," said his cousin, Billy. "Dad says you and Remus have gotta leave for London in an hour." Billy was eighteen, and felt he had a certain authority over Sirius, ever since he'd gotten engaged to his girlfriend, Sarah. He took him by the shirt, and threw him roughly on the floor.

"Watch it," Sirius said toughly, although he knew Billy could flatten him if he wanted to. Sirius pulled on some loose jeans, his letter in his pocket. He stuffed the letter farther inside, trying to hide it from Billy. Billy knew he was going to school in London, but he, like Sam, didn't know what type of school it was. He didn't even know that Sirius' parents were a witch and wizard, and had sent Sirius to live with his cousin due to their odd distaste of their oldest son.

"Hurry up Sirius! Breakfast is gettin' cold!" called his uncle Ephraim. Sirius hurried downstairs to find some rare meat and some toast on the table. Sirius poked the meat with his fork. "_Can't really get much colder_," he said under his breath. "_It's barely cooked_." Everyone in La Push ate their meat almost raw, and no sickness ever occurred from it. It was an old custom, he'd been told, and everyone seemed to prefer it that way. Sirius got in the car, where Lupin and his father, Lendo were waiting. They drove to the airport, where they would fly to London.

"You're gonna love Diagon Alley," Sirius said to Lupin.

"You've told me that twice already," Lupin replied, grinning at Sirius. Sirius was born in London and spent a lot of his early childhood there, and knew everything about places such as Diagon Alley. He never missed a chance to bring this fact up, and Lupin knew that he would've boasted all about it to Sam if he were allowed. Although Lupin's father was a wizard, Lupin himself had never set foot in Europe. His family had moved to the U.S, in hopes to leave the wizarding world behind, but Lupin's magical abilities couldn't be avoided. They had thought it to dangerous for their only son, but because Sirius had also gotten a Hogwarts letter, his parents decided that it would be safe if they both went together.

Several hours later, they arrived in Diagon Alley. Sirius laughed at the amazed look on Remus' face. All sorts of magical gadgets and shops as far as the eye can see.

"I suppose we should get your robes first," said Lendo. "You got your list there, Sirius?" Sirius pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to him, but a nearby shop caught his eye. "Follow me, Remus," he called, hurrying over to the shop called _Quality Quidditch Supplies_, leaving Lendo to buy the robes. The two peered at the front window at a sleek broomstick.

"Look at that," Sirius said excitedly. "Shooting Star. Just came out last month. Best broomstick around!"

"You ever ridden one?" asked Remus, awestruck.

"A broom, you mean? I had a toy one when I lived here, but when mum sent me to Washington I couldn't use it anymore," Sirius replied, still focusing on the broomstick.

"You've got to try the real thing," a voice said behind them. Sirius and Remus turned around. A skinny, gangly young boy about their age was looking at the broomstick as well. He had messy back hair and round glasses, and he was already wearing his school robes. "I've got a broomstick at home, and it's just the greatest. They'll teach you how to ride at school though, but those school brooms are nothing compared to this." He gazed at the broom longingly.

"So you're a pretty good flier?" asked Sirius, interested.

"Yeah, I suppose so. I wanted to play for the school team, but first years aren't allowed to try out. Probably make Seeker, but the school's got so many rules…" sighed the boy.

"So you're a first year also! So are we," said Remus. "What's your name?"

"James Potter. And you are?"

"I'm Remus Lupin, and he's Sirius Black."

"Good to meet you!" he exclaimed enthusiastically, shaking their hands.

Lendo approached them from behind. "I've taken the liberty of buying all your schoolbooks. Now we've just got to get you both some robes, and of course, wands."

"I've got my wand already!" said James excitedly. "Eleven and a half inches, mahogany, phoenix feather. It specializes in Transfiguration, which is good, because it seems to be the trickiest of subjects. I've been able to do all sorts of transformations and spells already, with help from the new wand, of course…" He rattled off a bunch of complex spells that left Sirius and Remus' wide-eyed at the thought of accomplishing something of that magnitude.

"I'll try to remember that," grinned Sirius. They turned to go into Olivander's Wands.

"See you at school, James!" called Lupin.

"That you will! Now… I have a broom to buy…" He turned to go into the store.

The three walked into the old wand shop, where they were greeted by Mr. Olivander. "A wand for each, I presume?" he asked in a soft voice. Sirius and Remus looked at each other nervously as Mr. Olivander started pulling out boxes from the shelves left and right. They were each asked to try many different wands, until Sirius suddenly sent a brilliant spark into the air.

"Ah, let me see that!" exclaimed Mr. Olivander. He examined the wand. "Thirteen inches, mahogany, dragon heartstring. Powerful wand this is, I'll tell you, very powerful."

"Is it good for transfiguration?" Sirius asked hopefully.

"Yes, yes, of course," replied Mr. Olivander, pulling out more boxes for Remus.

"What exactly, do we— _do_ when learning transfiguration?" Remus asked Sirius.

"Loads of stuff," he replied absentmindedly. "Like turning people into animals and stuff."

"Sirius!" Lendo said sharply. "You will most certainly not turn _anyone_ into any sort of animal while you at this school!"

"Why not, Mr. Lupin? I'm sure everybody does that stuff."

"Sirius, I know you'll learn a lot at that school, but you must understand, transfigurations, _especially_ animal transfigurations, are extremely dangerous," he said, voice still sharp.

"Ah, here's a strong wand," Mr. Olivander interrupted. "Try this one, Remus…"

Eventually, all of the school supplies were bought, and the three were on their way home. "What was up with your dad in Olivander's?" whispered Sirius to Lupin. "It seemed like he had something against Transfiguration or something?" Lupin just shrugged his shoulders. "I think he just doesn't want anything to dangerous." Sirius looked at him and suddenly grinned. "Which is _exactly_ what we'll be doing."


	2. Chapter 2

Transfiguration 

The next day, Sirius and Remus sat in Sirius' backyard with their wands, trying out some new spells. Remus had his Standard Book Of Spells, Grade One, open, and was reading on how to transform a flower into and butterfly.

Sirius groaned and sprawled himself out on the grass, arms outstretched. "It's all too easy!" he complained. "Do they have anything _worthwhile_ in there?"

"This book is pretty useless," Remus admitted.

"I'm going to run inside and see if I can find any of my mum's old books in the attic," Sirius said. Uncle Ephraim was over at the Uley's, so Sirius knew it would be safe to try some of the more "dangerous" spells. Sirius had smuggled some old spell books with him when he came to Washington, and he kept them well hidden.

Remus sat alone with the book as he waited for Sirius to come back. Sirius had mastered every spell in the book without trying. Although he himself was making excellent progress for one with so little experience with the wizarding world, it seemed as if Sirius knew as much as James Potter. He decided to practice some more. He looked around the yard and spotted a large boulder. "Maybe I can levitate it," he thought. He had already used this spell successfully, but it was more difficult with heavier objects. He pointed his wand at the boulder, and cried, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The boulder instantly rose in the air. Remus smiled. He waved his wand and started to make it zoom across the yard. He stood up and started to go in a circle, when he suddenly saw Sam come in the back gate, carrying his gift for Sirius.

Remus froze. The boulder stopped also, directly over Sam's head. Sam stared at Remus in confusion at the odd stick he held in his hand. Remus desperately wanted to hide the wand, but if he did, the boulder would crash on top of Sam.

"Remus… what's going on…" started Sam unsteadily. Remus instinctively glanced up at the large rock. Sam's eyes followed, and he let out a yelp of fear as he jumped out from underneath the boulder.

Sirius came out of the house, carrying a book. Horrified, he whipped out his wand and turned the rock invisible using a spell he had just looked up, but it was too late. Sam had seen everything, the floating rock, the spell book, and what he now knew were magic wands.

"What the…" said Sam, in a state of shock.

"Sam, we can explain-" Remus started, but Sam had already fled from the house. Sirius and Remus watched him jump on his motorbike and ride away. Having a pretty good idea of where he was going, Sirius and Remus looked at each other and immediately ran after him.

They eventually reached the Uley house. The two went inside, but immediately wished they hadn't. They stood in the corner of a kitchen to find Sam's father, Griban, Uncle Ephraim, Billy, and Lendo.

"Hogwarts!" bellowed Griban at Lendo. "You can't send the boys to a _magic school_!" he said with disgust. Lupin and Sirius looked at each other, both thinking it was a bit strange that Griban seemed to know about Hogwarts. "Your boys were supposed to join us, to protect our land! He can't do that he's off in London, now can he?"

Remus and Sirius stayed silent, unseen. Sam, scared, must've told Griban about the wands and Lendo must've explained about Hogwarts, which prevented them from joining… they weren't sure what.

"I've made my decision," Lendo said gravely. "I don't want my boy getting into that."

Uncle Ephraim agreed. "Billy would be going if he had gotten the letter; it's too dangerous to have them here at this point."

"What letter?" asked Billy, but he was ignored.

"Dangerous! Vampires running around our land killing our people left and right-- that's dangerous, let me tell you! I thought I had your support on this! It's going to happen to Sam when he's older, and Old Quil said his son will, and three other men have all agreed that this is necessary for our protection!" Griban, already an enormous man looked positively monstrous.Sirius looked at Billy in a corner, looking overwhelmed by this news.

"Dad, if you want to send Sirius to London, fine. But I want to help protect our land! If you'd just let Mr. Uley-"

"Absolutely not! I will not have one of them for a son!"

"One of them?" exclaimed Griban, enraged. "I am one of them! I'm the reason why your neck hasn't been torn off by one of them bloodsuckers in your sleep! I- I can't believe this is happening…" Suddenly, Griban seemed to get… bigger. His face turned red as he looked like he was about to lose control.

"Sam…" he gasped to his son. "Get out of the house. Please-- GET OUT!" He let out a scream as in an instant, fur started to grow on his forearms. It spread and spread, until an enormous wolf stood before him. He lunged at the kitchen table, breaking it two. Uncle Ephraim dived out of the way.

"Billy!" he called. "Come on!" He grabbed his son as he tried to get out of the house. The giant wolf snarled and jumped into their path. He lunged at Billy, teeth bared, but Lendo jumped in front of his path. He was hit by the wolf's giant paw, and was knocked out cold. At that moment, Uncle Ephraim noticed Sirius and Remus in the corner. "Boys! Get out of here!" he yelled, as if they needed telling. The four ran towards the door, but Remus tripped over the leg of the broken kitchen table. "Help me!" he called to Sirius. He scrambled to get up, but the wolf pushed him back down with an enormous paw. Ephraim took a rifle down from the wall and aimed it at the wolf. However, Sam, who had seen the action from outside, ran in and tried to grab the rifle from him.

"I'm not shooting—to—kill!" he tried to explain, struggling to get control of the gun. He struggled to wrench it away from Sam. Meanwhile, Remus was screaming in terror at the 500-pound beast leaning over him.

"Please," Remus begged the enormous wolf. "Please, don't…please…"

Billy threw Sam away from his father, allowing him to line up a shot with the rifle, but it was too late. The beast had already sunk its large fangs into Remus neck. From across the room, Lendo faintly opened his eyes, which were filled with horror. He saw his son let out a scream of pain, but it sounded deeper, like a howl. Remus shook on the ground, clearly struggling to breathe. Through his gasps and cringes of pain, he came to the realization that he was going to become a werewolf.

"So, there's no cure?" sobbed Remus's mother the next day. The whole lot was gathered in the Lupin's living room, where Remus' parents, were still shocked over the news of what happened to their son.

"I'm afraid not," said Griban, now back to his normal state. It seemed that if there was anyone more upset about the incident than the Lupin's, it was Griban. He had apologized countless times to them all, and claimed he was "forever indebted to them" for the accident.

"I just lost control," he had explained. "It was a terrible accident. But if you can understand, I _am_ a werewolf. And for that reason, I don't feel that I have brought something bad upon Remus. But I know that it is difficult for him to deal with being so young. And I know you stated a long time ago that you didn't want any part of this, but you must know that this wasn't intentional by any means. I'm just so sorry that he never had the choice… he's so young…" They all looked over at Remus. He looked terrible and off color. He had grown since the transformation, and his skin looked as if it was stretched to tight over his large body.

"He won't be able to go to school now," Lendo said sadly.

"What!" exclaimed Remus hoarsely.

"You don't think they'll let a werewolf into the Hogwarts, do you?" replied Lendo. "You'll have to stay here in La Push for the school year."

"Well, that won't be so bad then," Sam chimed in cheerfully.

"But- but- I've already gotten all my books and everything! Sirius- Me and Sirius- we've been practicing- I've learned so much already to just forget it all," cried Lupin, ignoring Sam.

"I suppose I could speak with the headmaster and try to work something out," replied Lendo. "But son, I don't want you to get your hopes up."

Griban turned to Sirius. "You know, Sirius, your father had led me to believe for a long time that one day you would join us werewolves. That option is still available- you don't have to go to London if you don't want to. You could stay here with Sam and Remus, and when you're older, you know, you could…" Sam looked over at him, hopefully.

"That's okay," Sirius said quickly. After looking at the state the Remus was in, he didn't think it very appealing. Even Billy, who was open to the transformation, didn't think he'd be able to undergo what Remus had to.

"Well, if you're sure, then I guess it's for the best," replied Griban sadly.

Sirius knew that he wouldn't give up the Hogwarts for anything. And he prayed with all his might that Lupin wouldn't have to either.

It was a rainy morning as Sirius entered platform nine and three-quarters. Sirius climbed on the train, and saw a familiar face in the first compartment.

"James, from Diagon Alley, right?" Sirius said.

"Sirius, sit down," offered James. "Where's Lupin?"

"Bit of a problem," replied Sirius, choosing his words carefully, "His, uh, parents aren't sure if he can go."

"So he might be along then?"

"Hopefully, yeah," replied Sirius.

"Cool," said James, getting up. 'C'mon, let's go bug people…"

They ran up and down the train, popping in and out of every compartment to meet as many people as they could. When they finally sat back down, a pretty redheaded girl whom they'd run into earlier entered their compartment.

"James, Severus and I can't see the castle through the window because of the rain," the girl said impatiently. "What spell would I be able to use to clear the window?"

"Tap your wand to the glass and say _Impervio_," James replied. "Geez Evans, that's pretty basic, I can't believe you didn't know that." The girl rolled her eyes at him, and jabbed him with her wand before walking away. Sirius noticed that James' ears had turned bright red. Hiding a smile, he asked, "What was that all about?"

"Ah, well, people know I can do some pretty advanced spells and stuff. They come up to me all the time, asking me if I can do something for them, but I prefer to just tell them a spell and laugh when they mess it up. But Lily, she'll know what she's doing, she's pretty bright…" The train suddenly stopped, and the students filed off the train. They traveled by boat to the castle, and went through the sorting process. Sirius was happy to see that James, like himself, was placed in Gryffindor also. After a delicious feast, James and Sirius went back to their common room. As they entered through the portrait of the Fat Lady, Sirius saw someone sitting there that he did not expect to see.

"_Lupin!_" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"My father did the trick," Lupin smiled, leaning back in his chair. "Everything's worked out."

"But how?" Sirius asked. Lupin eyes darted towards James, not ready to reveal his secret to anyone else.

"What happened?" James asked nosily.

"Nothing, no big deal," Sirius said quickly. James shrugged, and they began a game of Gobstones.

"I'll tell you later," Lupin whispered to Sirius behind James' back. A fellow Gryffindor named Peter Pettigrew decided to join their game as well. James won, naturally, having the most experience with those sorts of wizarding games, but Sirius and Lupin were enjoying themselves more than they ever had in their life.


	3. Chapter 3

Griban 

"Uley!" called a cold voice. "I have been waiting."

Griban walked across the graveyard a bowed to the imposing figure before him.

"Forgive me my Lord," he said, keeping his head low. "I had far to travel."

"I have not called you here to listen to your excuses," replied the cold voice. "I have reason to inquire about your recent actions… I have heard that you recently bit Lendo Lupin's son, turning him into a werewolf like yourself."

"That is true," replied Griban, bowing his head again.

"And you were able to keep your cover, by making it seem accidental?"

"That is true as well," Griban said with pride in his voice.

"I am pleased…very pleased. But I have also heard that you have access to two more young boys in that area, who you have not yet bitten?"

A flicker of nervousness flashed across Griban's face. "Yes, my Lord," he said, nodding. "One of the Black's sons—"

"The Blacks? You shall not bite anyone of the Black family. They have provided me with several Dark services… no harm shall come to their family."

Griban looked as if he wanted to argue, but he stopped himself. "The other, sir, is my son."

"And?"

He hesitated. "Well, I am planning on giving him the bite, but, sir, I fear he is just too young to handle—"

The man glared at Griban coldly. "Too young, you say…" he said in a hauntingly soft voice.

"Please, sir, only because it is my son…" Griban replied nervously.

"Do you think," he started in the same soft voice, "that it matters to me whether he is your son or not? Must I remind you again what I did to my own family members? I have a plan, Uley, and it will not be successful if my followers are concerned with something as unimportant as blood relations."

"Yes sir," Griban replied, trying to sound calm.

"What I ask of you is simple," replied the man, his voice still cold as ice. "I want you to drive the vampires out of the United States. They will flee to Europe in a state of terror. Then I will offer them my protection, and we shall join forces… you must do this along with the other werewolves stationed across the country."

"May I remind you, sir, that after the werewolves terrorize the vampires out of the country, it will be extremely difficult for us to fight along side each other?"

"It isn't complicated, Uley. Those who want to live will obey my orders, whether it means fighting alongside your enemies, or harming those you _care_ about," he scoffed at the last statement. "You will return to North America, and you will bite your son. Then you will finish carrying out my orders."

"Yes, my Lord," Griban replied, but he hesitated.

"You must let go of the affections you have for this boy!" he said angrily. "You must understand that the werewolf is more useful to me if the are bitten as children, and therefore you must…" He stopped, and his voice softened. "After I killed my father," he said with a hint of satisfaction. "I fashioned myself a new name, out of my filthy Muggle name, and name more powerful than any, the name people do not dare speak… _Voldemort_." Griban flinched. Voldemort drew his want, and sent bright orange letters into the air. Slowly, they moved until they spelled out '_Tom Marvolo Riddle'_. He flicked his wand, and they rearranged themselves to say, '_I am Lord Voldemort'_. "And now Uley," Voldemort continued. "I will show you how to let go... I will fashion you a new name as well." He waved his want, and the bright orange letters spelled out the name '_Griban Rockefeller Uley'_. With another flick of his wand, the letters rearranged themselves. Griban waited breathlessly as they flew around. "If you do what I ask," Voldemort told him. Finally, he was able to read, _'You'll be Fenrir Greyback'_ '.

"I would be honored, my Lord," Griban replied. "I live to do your bidding." And with that he turned, and left the graveyard.


	4. Chapter 4

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs 

As the months passed by, it was clear to see that James and Sirius were basically running the school. They excelled in all of their subjects, Transfiguration, Potions, Astronomy, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, etc. Sirius even preformed a difficult good luck charm on James so well that the professor admitted he did it better than he could. James was just as pleased of course, when within the next hour found a bit of gold, scored a hundred and four percent on his Herbology exam, and was partnered with Lily Evans during Potions, which he admitted, was the best part of the hour. However, the charm wore off at during the class, and James' luck was back to normal. He and Lily sat together, trying to decipher instructions, when she complained,

"James, I know you think you know everything, but why did you just add the lacewings? We're only on step four!"

He turned bright red. "Sorry, sorry, I know how to fix it!" he said hastily, flipping through his Potions book.

Sirius was sitting at a nearby table, partnered with Severus Snape, to both of their displeasure. Snape smirked when he heard his.

Professor Slughorn monitored the class' progress, until he was distracted by a knock on the door. A pretty third-year girl entered, drawing Slughorn's attention from his students.

"Sonia!" he greeted warmly. "I was waiting for you, come with me, a few minutes away from my class won't hurt…"

As Slughorn turned away from his class, Snape got up from his table.

"Here, Lily," he said to her kindly. "I can show you how to fix—"

"We don't need you," James said angrily.

Lily turned to him. "Severus always helps me with my potions, he knows a lot more than _you_ do."

"I helped you with some stuff!" James said defensively. "And besides, you don't need his help, you're the one of the smartest people here."

Lily aggravation momentarily subsided as she said, "You think I'm smart?"

James opened his mouth to respond, but Snape interrupted him.

"You like her, don't you, Potter?" he asked. His tone was tantalizing, but there was a mixture of anger and panic on his face. But it vanished as he shouted, "Potter fancies Lily! Potter fancies Lily! Potter—"

"I do not!" James shouted back. He stood up flicked his wand at Snape's cauldron, which exploded, its contents spilling over the floor.

Professor Slughorn jumped to face the class when he heard this.

"Oh my," he said when he saw what happened. "Sonia, you may leave, I'll just have to sort this out… class dismissed!" he shouted over the commotion.

As the students filed out, Sirius came over to James.

"You know, you'll never get a girl to go out with you if you tell her you don't like her," he said to James.

I suppose so," replied James. He grinned. "But did you see her face when I complemented her?"

"Yeah, and that bit of magic you used on Snape's cauldron was brilliant. What'd you think, Lupin?" he asked, turning to the boy who'd just walked up to them.

Lupin yawned. "I was—to tired to really notice what was going on," he told them tiredly. He looked terribly under the weather. Lupin was just as bright as James and Sirius, however, his grades suffered due to the fact that once a month, he fell incredibly ill and missed classes. Sirius always covered for Lupin, but James and Peter, who were his closest friends, quickly got suspicious. Sirius knew that it wouldn't be long before James picked up on Lupin's secret.

At the beginning of their second year at Hogwarts, James approached Sirius in the common room.

"He's a werewolf, isn't he," he said confidently, stating it like fact.

"Who's a werewolf?" asked Peter, coming up behind them.

"Think, Peter, think real hard," Sirius said as James rolled with eyes.

"So how does he do it?" asked James, dismissing Peter's inquiry. "I mean, the parents would _flip_ if they knew their kids were hanging around a werewolf"

"You know that stupid tree they planted over on the grounds?"

"Yeah, the Whomping Willow."

"Well, there's a passage underneath one of the roots that leads to a little shack in Hogsmeade. He goes their once a month to transform, and it drives him nuts. He goes insane, and starts breaking everything, biting the wood and shattering the windows—"

"Couldn't we go with him? To you know, keep him company?" Peter suggested.

"You go and try that, and tell me how it works out, Peter." replied James.

Peter hung his head. "To bad there aren't any other werewolves to keep him company," he said in a low voice.

Sirius was silent. He never told them that he had been given the opportunity to become a werewolf. He didn't think that he could do it though, not even for Lupin.

James looked thoughtful. "Humans can't keep werewolves company…but animals can, can't they?"

"James, Lupin would kill any animal small enough to go with him, and any animal big enough to keep him company would kill us first."

"True…but what if it was us in animal form? We could become Animagi," he suggested.

Peter laughed. "Yeah, right," he said.

"That's a good idea," said Sirius thoughtfully.

"Wait, you're serious?" exclaimed Peter with a surprised look on his face.

"Don't worry Peter, we wouldn't expect you to be able to manage this in the slightest," James said swiftly.

"We'll help you through it, but you have to become a rat," Sirius added.

"I don't _want_ to be a rat," whined Peter. "Why can't I be something cool-"

"We need someone to be small enough to get under the Whomping Willow's branches and press the knot that makes it freeze. James and I will become large animals to accommodate Lupin-"

"Did someone say my name?" asked Lupin, who had just come through the portrait.

"They know, Lupin," Sirius explained. Lupin looked worried.

"And we're going to do something about it," said James confidently. "We've decided to become Animagi so we can keep you company when you transform."

"But that's- that's imposs-" Lupin looked skeptical. "How are you going to manage that?"

"We'll find a way," said James, heading off to bed. Peter, who usually did everything James did, followed. "Sure, it'll take us awhile, but it's for you, Lupin. We've got you covered." He and Peter walked up the stairs.

Sirius and Lupin lingered back in the common room.

"Sirius," Lupin said. "Do you remember my dad's warning, back in Olivander's last year?"

Sirius thought hard. "Vaguely, yeah. But I just thought that he'd said that only because he was he was so freaked out about werewolves at the time."

"Oh yeah, maybe," Lupin replied, unconvinced. "I just feel it was my fault if anything bad happened—"

"Don't be ridiculous, Lupin," Sirius interrupted. "If anything happens, we'll just be victims of our own stupidity.'

"Sirius I can't believe you would do this. I mean, when I first became a werewolf, I thought I wasn't going to be able to hang out with you anymore. I thought you'd go here, and meet all new people, and just kinda—leave me, I guess," said Lupin.

Sirius laughed. "You're not going to find better friends than James and I. We're probably the only people on earth who'd do this for you. Do you know how much work this is gonna take?"

"Well, I'll do whatever I can to help," Lupin replied eagerly.

"Help Peter- he's absolutely hopeless. He wouldn't even do this if it wasn't for James," said Sirius, looking slightly agitated.

"Well, we need someone to push the knot on the tree, right?" Lupin laughed as they headed up to bed.

James was right in saying that it would take awhile. None of the boys were too keen on doing homework, so they spent a lot of time trying to work out the transfiguration. When the four boys were in their fifth year at Hogwarts, James and Sirius determined themselves able to perform the spell. They all were out by the lake on a cloudy day, where no one else was around.

"Okay, we're finally ready to do this?" asked James. Sirius rolled his eyes. They probably would've been ready the year before this if it hadn't been for Peter. One by one, they each preformed the spell, James first, then Sirius, and last Peter. To their great pleasure, all three transformations had gone perfectly. James had become a majestic stag, Sirius chose a powerful, humongous dog, and Peter was a rat. Lupin let out a cheer as he watched his friends run around on four legs.

They successfully transformed back into human form. They huddled together. James whispered to them, "Our names are no longer Remus, Peter, Sirius, and James. They are Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs."

The four friends let out shouts of joy that rang out over the lake. Snow began to fall. The rushed inside to sit by the fire, and discuss their pride with themselves of having just preformed the most complex, illegal magic any fifth year ever done.


	5. Chapter 5

Emily 

Over the Christmas holidays, Lupin and Sirius traveled back to Washington to visit Sam. Sam invited them both to stay at his place for a bit, and they readily accepted the invitation. They hadn't seen Sam since their second year. Sirius' parents had allowed him to stay with them and his brother while at Hogwarts, limiting his time in the U.S.

"He's not even going to recognize us," laughed Lupin, who was looking fit and healthy now that he was accustomed to his new state. Sirius nodded as they made their way up to the Uley household. Lupin had changed a lot more than he did. They rang the doorbell, and were shocked by who greeted them.

"_Sam_?" Sirius asked in wonderment. Sam had always been a big guy, but he had grown well over six and a half feet. As the three made their way into the kitchen, they noticed that Sam's head almost touched the ceiling.

"I've guess I've grown a it over the last few years, huh?" Sam said casually, as he pulled some food out of the refrigerator. But it wasn't just that Sam had gotten taller. He'd gotten incredibly muscular, and there was something different about his facial features. He looked sharper, and more angular…they both knew that this could only be a result of…

"It happened a few years ago," Sam was saying. "My dad did it. I am now officially a werewolf." Lupin was still gawking over Sam's size.

"But I don't understand," he said, perplexed. "How come I haven't grown to your size? I mean, I _am_ older than you."

"Well, I guess because you're half a wizard, right? Probably don't do too much hunting up at that school I'd imagine…"

Just then, Griban came in through the back door. "Remus, Sirius," he greeted. "Good to see you both. Remus, I was wondering if I could have a word outside?" Lupin glanced at Sirius, and followed Griban outside.

Sam immediately went over to Sirius and sat down. "Sirius," he said. "There's something I need to ask you. Now that Lupin and I have both transformed, my dad and I were wondering if you were really to change yourself. Dad won't ask you, 'cause he still feels to guilty about what he did to Lupin, I think. But I know he really wants you to. And everything worked out for Lupin, right? He can still go to that school and everything," he said eagerly. Sirius felt a pang of indignation. Sam had no idea want Lupin went through at Hogwarts.

"So, if you'd just become a werewolf, it would be a lot easier for the three of us to stay together. We could be our own pack. What do you say?"

"I don't think I need to, Sam," Sirius said quietly. "I can already transform into another animal."

"Yeah, okay Sirius," Sam said, disbelieving.

He was interrupted as Sirius suddenly transformed into a large black dog. He bared his large teeth at Sam, and then turned back into a human.

"Whoa," said Sam in a hushed voice. "How did you do that?"

"I'm an Animagus. Me and two of my friends learned how to do it, to help Lupin with the transformations. It's just like being a werewolf, but it's a lot less painful and I'm always in control of myself," Sirius explained.

"But you can't kill to many vampires when you're that size," Sam said accusingly.

"Why are you so worried about vampires? As long as the treaty is in tact, they won't hurt anybody."

"But we need to be ready in case they do," said Sam. "Just last, my friend's older sister, Victoria, got too friendly with one of them. Next thing you know he bites her, and we had two blood thirsty vampires running around here…" He shook his head. "They never caught them either."

Sirius stood up. "Look, Sam, it's not that I don't care about these lands. But I'm not going to give up my way of life for it! I'm going to stay in Europe after I finish school, and what good'll it bring me if I'm a werewolf there? You don't know what it's like being a werewolf in the wizarding world, Sam. Everyone's terrified of werewolves, and no one wants to be around them…just ask Lupin! He's got to miss classes every month, and lie to everyone about where's he's been. I don't think you know how much you're asking of me Sam. It was hard enough becoming an Animagus, and if you ask me, if Lupin had a choice he would've never agreed to become a werewolf." He finished breathlessly.

Sam was quiet, clearly hurt. "Fine," he said. "I see your point, although I wish you didn't feel like being a werewolf was such a bad ordeal."

Sirius felt a bit guilty; he had forgotten Sam had to go through the same amount of trouble. They sat in silence until Griban and Remus came back in the house.

"Was he asking you anything, Sirius?" Griban asked sharply when he saw the two boys standing there.

"No—Dad we were just talking," Sam replied quickly.

"I hope so, Sam," Griban answered. Sirius got the impression that for some reason, Griban didn't want him to become a werewolf as Sam said.

"I'm just going to go for a walk," said Lupin, as he headed back outside.

"Want me to come with you?" Sirius called.

"It's all right. I just need to be alone for a bit," Lupin replied. Whatever he and Griban were talking about, it was clearly bothering him.

Lupin wandered around in the forest, pondering Griban's words. He had asked him if he wanted to stay in La Push, and offered him a place in his pack. Lupin knew that he could never leave the Hogwarts—it felt more like home to him than any place he had ever been. But when Griban told him that terrible story about that girl, Victoria, and how their numbers were too small to catch the vampire that killed her, Lupin couldn't help feeling guilty.

"I've never even seen any vampires around here," Lupin thought to himself. He wondered if Griban made the story up, out of desperation to get him to join them. He seemed desperate for help. "There can't be any around here," Lupin told himself again, as traveled deeper into the woods.

Eventually, he came to a small clearing. He started to enter, but he stopped, concealing himself behind the trees. There he saw a young girl sitting by a small pond. She looked about his age. She was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. He watched her as she ran her hands through her jet-black hair, almond eyes gazing at her reflection in the water. He had an urge to go over to her, but she looked so peaceful that he didn't want to disturb her. He watched her for a bit, listening to her hum a pretty melody as she absentmindedly dipped her feet into the pond. He couldn't help feeling uncomfortable, intruding in this girl's private world. He wanted to leave, but he stayed watching her, transfixed by her graceful movements.

Suddenly, to Lupin's horror, he saw a pair of black eyes appear from behind a tree on the other side of the clearing. They were fixed on the girl, and Lupin watched as a pale figure stepped out behind the tree and made his way toward the pond. Lupin had never actually seen a vampire before, much less attacked one. But the sight of the bloodthirsty monster, and his intention of destroying something so beautiful, made Lupin's blood boil. The vampire crept closer and closer, unheard by the girl. He leaned over her, bearing his large teeth.

Lupin didn't waste a second. In a moment he transformed into a beast, and he ran across the clearing and lunged at the vampire, clawing at his throat. The girl turned around, and let out a scream. The vampire threw Lupin off of him, and scrambled to his feet. Lupin, wishing he had Sam's size at this point, was clearly over-matched by the vampire, but his rage was too great for this detail to matter. He pounced on him, but the vampire freed his arm to pull a knife out of his pocket. He thrust it into Lupin's shoulder, but Lupin didn't loosen his hold. He viciously bit at the vampire's neck until the struggle was over. Lupin got up slowly, and the vampire lay dead on the ground.

The girl rushed over to Lupin, and pulled the knife out of his shoulder. She tossed it aside. With a great effort, he transformed back into a human, and laid on the ground, exhausted.

"You saved my life," the girl cried, flinging her arms around him.

"It was nothing," Lupin replied breathlessly.

The girl ran over to get some water to wash Lupin's wound. She hurried back over to him, and lifted up his shoulder.

"It's gone!" she exclaimed.

"What?" asked Lupin.

"The wound- it's not there anymore!"

Lupin turned his head to see the back of his should, and sure enough, the wound had healed itself already.

"Oh yeah," he said casually. "Werewolves heal pretty quickly." He was still slightly out of breath.

"Well, I can't thank you enough," she said. "I had no idea this part of the woods was dangerous, I mean, I've never even heard of any vampires around here."

"Me neither," replied Lupin. She dabbed his face with the cloth intended for his wound, and Lupin immediately felt invigorated. He smiled at her, and she shyly smiled back.

"Really, I'm fine," he told her, trying to sound brave, although he had no desire for her to stop.

"It's the least I can do, considering you saved my live," she said, wiping a bit of the vampire's blood off his neck.

"Can I walk you home?" Lupin asked politely. "I don't feel comfortable letting you off alone… there could be more vampires around here."

"Oh, of course," she said, getting up of the ground. She helped Lupin up as well—she was surprisingly strong for one so delicate. "By the way—what's your name?"

"Remus Lupin. You?"

She smiled. "You can call me Emily," she said.

They walked back out of the woods together, when suddenly they heard a rustling up ahead of them.

Lupin put his hand out in front of Emily. "Get behind that tree," he said, pointing to a tall oak nearby. She concealed her self just as a figure emerged on the pathway, but it was only Sam.

"Hey Lupin, I was just coming to check up on you," Sam told him.

"Hey, what's going on?" Emily asked, coming out from behind the tree.

Sam looked at them both curiously. "Do—do you two know each other?"

"He just saved my life, Sam," Emily said.

"Wait—you know Sam?" Lupin asked Emily.

"Yes, we've been friends since we were young," she replied. "How do you know Sam?"

"We've been friends since we were young also," Lupin said.

He saw Sam's eyes shift away from him. "How come you've never introduced Emily to Sirius and I before?" he inquired.

"Yeah, Sam," agreed Emily. "You never mentioned you had friends outside of school."

"I guess—it never came up," he said a bit nervously.

"Fifteen years wasn't enough time?" Emily said accusingly. "What, are you embarrassed of me or something?"

"No, that's not it at all!" Sam said immediately. "Emily, I'm sorry, I just… I—"

"It's okay Sam, don't worry about," Lupin cut in. He had a pretty good idea of why Sam didn't want any of his friends to meet Emily. "Why don't we all just go back to your place and relax for a bit?"

"Sure, that sounds good," replied Sam, calming down. The three traveled out of the woods, all animosities forgotten.


	6. Chapter 6

The End-Of-The-Year Dance 

"She was looking at you again," said James with a sly grin. Sirius pretended to not know what he was talking about. They were back at school and it was the end of term, and the day of their last exam was coming to a close.

"Who?" Sirius asked casually.

"You know who I'm talking about," replied James, smirking as he patted Sirius on the back. They made their way down the corridor and entered the Gryffindor common room. "I just think that she could find a better use of her time during the Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L then trying to catch your eye." (This was the girl that was mentioned I Book 5)

Sirius grinned in spite of himself. "Look, there's no way she could be interested in me," he said as they took their seats in front of an unlit fireplace.

"Oh, come off it!" said James impatiently. "Ask her to the end-of-the year dance, I'll bet she says yes."

Sirius shrugged. "Maybe," he said, leaning back in his chair.

"Who's Padfoot taking to the dance?" asked Lupin, who had just come down from the dormitories with Peter.

"Sonia Trelawney," replied James, grinning.

Peter's eyes widened. "She– she's the best-looking girl in the seventh year!" he said, stunned. "_And_ she's two years older than you!"

"Good Peter, you can count," said Sirius coolly.

"Why do you reckon she was taking a DADA exam as a seventh year?" asked Lupin.

"Her mother wrote to Dumbledore about it, she seems to want her to get as much experience as she can or something," replied Sirius. "Good thing my parents don't give a damn about me, I would hate extra exams."

"You should ask her to the dance," said Lupin. "At least one of us should have a date…"

"Hey, Lily would've said yes if that Diggory troll hadn't asked first," James interrupted. He sunk back in his chair dejectedly. "Ah, can't figure out what she's got against me… No worries Moony, the both of us still have some time."

"What about me?" Peter asked sulkily, but they ignored him.

"So, you really think Sonia'd say yes if I asked her?" asked Sirius.

"Sure, sure," said James with a wave of his hand. "Just go up to her, and say, 'So, is there anything in that crystal ball of yours about you and me at the dance together on Saturday…"

Sirius rolled his eyes and laughed. "I'm sure she hasn't heard that before."

"No wonder Lily said no, James!" Lupin said grinning.

James got out of his chair and stretched. "At least I didn't pull that rubbish Amos did on her," he said, yawning. "'Oh, Miss Evans, I've never met one as radiant or intelligent as you… would you honor me, a mere mortal, with your company at the dance…" he said in a mock voice. "Anyway, I think I'm off to bed."

Sirius got up with James. "I guess I'll ask Sonia tomorrow," he said, following James and Peter up the stairs to the dormitories. He paused. "Coming Moony?" he asked, turning around.

Lupin was staring into the fire with his hands in his pockets, as if in a trance. Sirius watched him for a moment. He finally blinked and shook his head. "Oh yes, I'll be up in a bit," he replied, not looking at Sirius.

"Oh—all right then," said Sirius. He walked up the stairs and crawled into bed. He laid awake for awhile, but sleep overcame him. He never heard Lupin come up into bed.

The next morning, Sirius awoke with James throwing a pillow at him. "Get up, Padfoot," he said, climbing out of bed. "You better ask Sonia early, you know a million other guys will be lining up to ask her."

"Right, yeah," said Sirius sleepily, pulling the covers back over his head.

"Get up!" called James, and stripped the bed sheets with a wave of his wand.

"Coming, coming," replied Sirius. He got up, watching James flip through an old spell book.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Not doing homework, are you?"

James looked up from the book and grinned. "Wouldn't dream of it," he said, returning to the pages. "Just trying to see what jinx I can use on Diggory if he comes within ten feet of me."

"Alright, but give Levicorpus a rest okay? I think that might've been what lost you Lily in the first place," Sirius replied, amused.

"I reckon the Babbling curse will do just fine," replied James. "Won't know it's me, in any case. Or I could try the Trip jinx…"

They walked down to the Great Hall with Lupin and Peter. They took their seats at the Gryffindor table, and they began filling their plates with eggs and bacon.

"There she is," James whispered to Sirius, pointing at a beautiful girl who was sitting at the Ravenclaw table. She was fair skinned and had black hair, and was exceptionally tiny. She was sitting with her friends, unaware that she was surrounded by a group of boys from all different houses. "Told you there'd be a line," said James, nudging him a bit.

Sirius made his way over to the Ravenclaw table, but as he got closer, he saw most of the boys kept a steady distance from Sonia. From the looks on their faces, it seemed that they were too intimidated to really talk to her. Sirius made his way into the groups, and astonished expressions overcame the faces of the onlookers as they moved out of Sirius' path.

"Hey Sonia," he said casually, taking the seat next to her.

"Oh, hello Sirius," she said warmly, but Sirius could see she was a bit nervous. She gave a sharp look towards her girlfriends whom she was sitting with, and they immediately got up. She shook her hair and sat up straight. "How are you?" she asked, flashing a dazzling smile.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," replied Sirius, seeing that the girls Sonia had sent away were listening to them intently a couple feet away. "I was just wondering if you were free to go to the end-of-the-year dance with me."

Sonia grabbed his hands. "Oh, of course I will!" she said in a rushed voice. "I thought you weren't going to ask—this is wonderful!" The group of boys nearby scowled.

"Great, yeah," said Sirius. "I'll see you then?"

"Definitely," she said with another brilliant smile. But it vanished quickly as she leaned closer to him. "But Sirius," she said with a whisper. "Do you know anyone who'll go with Sybil? Like one of your friends maybe—I know they're a popular bunch, but on the off chance that they don't have dates already…"

"Um, sure, I'll ask them. Don't worry, I'll find someone for your sister," he said.

"Oh good," Sonia said excitedly, but keeping her voice low. "I was so worried, I mean, Sybil is a bit strange I guess, I didn't think anyone would go with her, but she really is sweet—"

"Don't worry, one of them will go with her," replied Sirius, getting up.

"Thank you so much," she said giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek. He left the table, looking at the faces of surprise and outrage around him. "I'll see you then!" she called.

"Peter, I've found you a date for the dance," said Sirius, as they made their way to Herbology.

"You didn't!" Peter exclaimed. "Who is it?"

"Sybil Trelawney," replied Sirius casually.

Peter's face fell immediately. "But she's— sort of….she's sort of out there, isn't she?"

"You should be thanking him, Wormtail, not complaining," snapped James.

"Honestly, you didn't expect to do any better than that, did you?" Sirius said disdainfully.

"Don't be so harsh, Sirius," said Lupin, but he was smiling.

"Oh, look, here comes pretty-boy Diggory," James said in a low voice to Sirius, taking out his wand.

Diggory was coming down the path with his arm around Lily, to far away to hear James mutter a jinx under his breath. Suddenly, he fell to the floor with a loud thud and became tangled in his robes.

Peter let out a loud laugh, but James stared at them with an innocent look on his face.

"Oh, Amos," Lily cried, kneeling down to help him. "Are you okay?"

"Must've lost my balance," Diggory said gruffly, picking himself up. Lily started to brush off his robes. "I'm just glad you're not hurt," she said in an overly sweet voice, and she planted a kiss on his cheek.

James watched them walk past with a look of horror on his face. When they were out of an earshot, Sirius and Lupin burst out laughing.

"Could you—have picked—a worse jinx?" said Sirius through spurts of laughter.

"Should've went with the babbling hex," James said crossly.

"Honestly James, you wonder why you can't get her to go out with you—" laughed Lupin.

"If you say that one more time, Moony—"

"She saw you were there, that's all, James!" Peter piped up. "She wanted to make you jealous!"

James patted Peter on the back. "Good man, Wormtail," he said in a considerably cheerier voice. They made their way into the greenhouse and took their usual seats. "And anyways," he said proudly. "I've already found another date."

"Congratulations, mate!" said Lupin brightly. "Who is it?"

"Gloria Grisham," he said casually, chopping up a set of brightly colored roots. "We're just friends of course, but it's better than going with someone like Syb—" He stopped himself, and Peter didn't seem to hear. He cleared his throat. "Er, so Moony, you're the only one without a date then? You better get to it…"

"Actually, three girls asked me this morning," said Lupin. "But I told them I couldn't go."

"Why not?" asked Sirius.

"Well…" Lupin dropped his voice. "I don't think I should let anyone get that close to me—I mean, I am, after all, a—" He stopped, knowing that they all knew what he was going to say.

"Moony, are you serious?" Sirius said, still keeping his voice low as he proceeded to extract the juices from the roots. "You can't keep letting your condition get in the way—"

"Problem," James interrupted. "It's just a furry little problem, that's all. And I'll guarantee that you won't have as much fun if you go by yourself."

"Thanks guys," said Lupin. "But I've made my decision. Besides, I wouldn't feel comfortable, because of Emily. I can't see myself being with anyone but her."

The days went by fast, as everyone was eagerly anticipating the dance. Sirius spent most of his free time with Sonia, and was usually accompanied by James or Lupin.

On one particular occasion Sirius was walking leisurely down the hallway with Sonia. People crowded the corridors in groups, but one dark-haired boy hurried through the halls dodging through the groups carrying a load of books.

As Snape passed by Sirius, he stumbled and dropped all of his books. The nearby crowd burst out laughing, including Sirius. He stood up and glared at Sirius accusingly. Sirius threw up his hands innocently.

"Don't blame others for your own clumsiness, Severus," Sirius said coolly. He waved his wand, and the books lifted themselves off the ground for him to pick up. Severus reached for the books, but as he did, the books flew ten feet up in the air, and then fell to the ground. Furious, he bent down to gather up the books as the crowd laughed again.

"Who's that you're with, Sirius," he said nastily. "You and James split up?"

"Nah, I reckon we're just taking a break, isn't that right, Padfoot?" said James, coming up from behind them. Sirius grinned back at him. Snape glared at them and lowered his head as he hurried away.

"Aw, I've missed all the fun," James said disappointed, watching Snape disappear around the corner.

"I'm sure you'll find plenty of other opportunities," replied Sirius as they continued down the hall.

A young third year called Riley approached them.

"Sonia?" he called, slightly nervous. "Um, Professor Slughorn wants to see you in his office now, he told me to get you."

She smiled at him kindly. "Thanks, I'll be there in a minute," she said as he rushed away.

"What does he want?" asked Sirius, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, he's always inviting me to his office, he likes trying to get me to predict the future of other students," she said offhandedly. "Wants to know who to get close to, I suppose, but I don't care he gives me extra credit…I'll see you guys later." She hurried off down the hall past a group of fifth-year girls who were gossiping in loud voices. James noticed Lily in the group.

"I think I just heard our names," James said to Sirius. "Shall we have a listen in?" They crept closer to the group, trying to hear what they were saying.

"Which one do you like best out of the three of them?" they heard one girl say.

"Oh, I don't know," replied another. "Remus is the sweet one, Sirius is the smooth one, and James is—"

"The stuck-up one," Lily interrupted, who had just taken notice of the boys standing by.

"Aw, c'mon Lily," James said loudly. "What about 'the smart one', or, 'the sensitive one…" He laughed as she stormed off from the group.

"Tough break," Sirius said sympathetically.

James merely shrugged. "Hey look," he said, pointing down the hall. "There's Lupin." They saw him brooding in a corner.

They walked over to him. "What's up?" asked Sirius.

"Full moon tonight," Lupin said, looking tired.

"Ah, right," said James. "The usual place?"

"Thanks," said Lupin. "I've told everyone I've got detention, as always." He looked slightly annoyed. "I hate doing this," he said, shaking his head. "You see why I can't have a girlfriend here? I'd have to lie to her all the time, and make sure I don't accidentally _attack_ her…"

"Well, you've got Emily, of course," James said consolingly. "And she knows about everything, so you know you won't hurt her—"

"That's why I've got to hold on to her," Lupin replied.

The end-of-the-year dance took place in the Great Hall, which was decorated magnificently. The tables had been cleared to the sides to make room for a dance floor, which soon became filled with many students dancing in their dress robes.

Sirius and James arrived at the entrance, both scanning the floor for their dates. Peter was sitting at a corner table with Sybil, with a glum expression on her face. From the looks of it, she seemed equally as unhappy with the arrangement—Sirius doubted if they had said more than two words to each other before this.

"There's Gloria," Sirius said to James, pointing to a group of girls on the dance floor.

James' expression softened. "Wow," he said quietly. "She looks…she…" Sirius followed his gaze but saw he was not looking at Gloria. Suddenly, he saw Sonia waving to him from across the room. "I see Sonia," he said. "C'mon let's go."

They both walked across the room to greet their dates.

"How lovely it is to see you, Sonia," Sirius said, kissing her hand.

"Oh, very smooth," she replied with a twinkle in her eye as he led her out to the dance floor. Sirius saw many eyes look over at him enviously, and he could see why. Sonia looked positively stunning in her silver robes and stuck out among the other girls despite her petite size. They started with a graceful waltz. Sirius looked over her shoulder momentarily and saw James step on the back of Amos Diggory's robes. He didn't know if it was intentional or not, but it caused him to stumble into Lily and knocked both of them off balance.

"James!" shouted Lily, straightening out her robes. "You—you—"

"I'm sorry Lily, it was an accident!" James replied innocently. Everyone around them had stopped to see what was going on.

"Don't apologize to me, apologize to Amos, he was the one you knocked over!" she snapped, her face reddening.

"Then why are you the one getting all offended?" answered James.

"Oh—just try acting your age, for just one night!" she said angrily.

"Why don't you just go back to your boyfriend and stop concerning yourself with my maturity level?" he said, face reddening as well.

"Don't tell me what to do!" she shouted back.

"Honestly," Diggory intervened. He turned to Lily with an angry look on his face. "If you wanted to spend this much time with him, why didn't you just _go_ with him!"

"You stay out of this," Lily snapped. "James, just leave me _alone_, for a change…"

"I didn't even do anything to you!" he said indignantly.

"You know, it's pretty crowded in here," Sirius said to Sonia, who was watching them, amused. "Do you want to take a walk outside?"

"Sure," she replied with a smile, taking her eyes away from the Lily and James scene. They went out the doors to the grounds, and saw a few other couples sitting around the lake that had left the Great Hall. Sirius and Sonia slowly walked along the banks of the lake, talking intently with each other.

"I can't tell you how happy I am you asked me to this dance," she told him softly. "I mean, I've liked you for such a long time, and it's my seventh year, so I didn't think I'd have any other opportunity…"

"You could've always asked me," said Sirius, shrugging his shoulders.

"I suppose so, I just didn't…I didn't want…" She trailed off, gazing over the lake.

"What?" he asked, unable to comprehend her thought process.

"It's just…I don't think I'll be able to see anyone from Hogwarts after this year," she said slowly. My mother—she's sending me back to the United States after I graduate. I didn't want to get to close to anyone, but I that didn't stop me from hoping--"

"Wait—back?" Sirius asked, confused.

"Yes," she answered, finally meeting his eyes. "You know, of course, that my mother possesses the Inner eye, and when I was young, she looked into my future and saw there was danger for me if I stayed here in England. She immediately sent me to my Muggle father, who lived in Mississippi at the time. They had divorced two months earlier," she said bitterly. "She thought that he would take care of me, but he abandoned me as he did to my mother. He never was comfortable with the fact that we could have visions of the future. He dropped me off in a mental institution with my mother's last name, and left our family forever."

"Honestly, you were probably better off without him," said Sirius comfortingly. "I mean, I've had too many problems with my own parents, that's how come I live with James now…" His words didn't seem to console Sonia, whose eyes started to well up with tears. "What sort of danger did your mother believe you were in?" he asked quickly, trying to take her mind off her father.

"She told me when I was eleven," she said, wiping her eyes. "See, I had lived in the asylum for about eight years, but one day, I was sent a letter of acceptance from Hogwarts. I wrote to my mother, telling her how badly I wanted to go. It was then she told me what she saw." Sirius waited for her to collect her self.

"She told me that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would discover my ability, and try to use me to his advantage. He would try to capture me, she thought, unless I moved away before he could find out about my talents. Sybil, of course, could stay; my mother knew she didn't have the gift to the extent that I did.

"She said that I could go to Hogwarts, since it is just as safe from You-Know-Who as the U.S. But she said that I must return there after I finish my schooling. And it's not so bad there, it really isn't, but Hogwarts has been the greatest experience of my life," she finished, still teary eyes.

"But what's the _point_," asked Sirius, "of sending you here, only to send you back to a place where you could never be able to use magic?"

"I don't think that really mattered to her," she said sorrowfully. "She didn't care how I was spending my time as long as I was safe." She suddenly threw her arms around Sirius, and rested her head against his shoulder. "And now, I never see you—or anyone else—ever again," she sobbed.

"Oh, no, it's okay," he said taken slightly aback at this sudden outburst of affection. "Really, I'll write to you all the time—we'll keep in touch—I'm sure we'll meet again." He patted her affectionately on the back.

"Really?" she said softly, looking up at him.

"Of course," he replied soothingly. He smoothed the back of her hair and gently kissed her on the forehead. "It'll be tricky, learning to use the Muggle post, and I'm sure it'll be slow, but it'll work out, I promise."

She laughed softly. "Thanks," she replied. She gave a small shiver. It had gotten cold, and neither of them had noticed that most of the other couples had gone inside.

"The dance must be almost over," said Sirius, taking her hand. "Want to go back inside?"

"Sure," she replied smiling, as she did whenever he suggested something. They walked back inside the Great Hall, where a few couples still remained on the dance floor. Many of them had retired to their rooms, exhausted from the long night. Sirius saw Diggory still dancing with a pretty girl from Hufflepuff—he didn't know her name—and saw Lily sitting alone at one of the tables. He wondered why she just didn't go up to bed. She was glaring at James, who was sitting at another table, chatting with Gloria. He looked pretty pleased, probably because Diggory was no longer with Lily. Gloria seemed unaffected by the whole thing— Sirius assumed she must've known what was going on.

"Do you want me to walk you to your room?" asked Sirius. Sonia nodded, and they left the Great Hall, and there were still a few envious glances thrown their way. They arrived at the Ravenclaw portrait entrance, and Sonia started to climb in.

"Goodnight," Sirius said, releasing her hand.

"Remember your promise to write to me," she told him with a small smile. "I won't forget."

"Neither will I," Sirius replied assuring. "And you know, you won't be cut off from the wizarding world completely. I mean, you're able to see the future—you'll know when it will be safe to come out here again, and I'll be waiting for you of course."

"Not all of my visions come true," she admitted. "I mean, there's this one I had yesterday about tonight, and it didn't happen, so I'm not completely reliable, you know."

"What was it?" asked Sirius curiously.

"Oh—nothing, it wasn't important, really," she said quickly. "Anyways—goodnight." She turned to climb in the portrait, but Sirius caught her hand and gently pulled her toward him. He placed a hand on her neck and kissed her.

Several whistles broke out from within the portrait hole. Sirius realized more people had already gone to bed then he'd thought. He drew back from her, and he saw she was blushing. He smiled back at her, and she started to say something, but she stopped herself. "Goodnight, Sirius," she said, and with a small wave, disappeared inside the portrait.

"You had a good time last night, didn't you? Everyone's talking about you and Sonia," James said to Sirius, nudging him the next morning on their way to class.

Sirius didn't show any signs of embarrassment. "More people are talking about your little row with Lily in the middle of the dance floor."

"Oh yeah, it was pretty funny how she ignored Amos the rest of the night after that happened," James said with a smirk on his face.

"She did look miserable when I came back inside though," Sirius said.

James looked a bit remorseful. "Serves her right for going with Diggory," he said bitterly.

"Better him than Snape though," Sirius replied.

"What are you talking about?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You didn't know that Snape had asked Lily? Sonia told me about it, she's friends with her."

"I'm going to kill him! And to think how he poked fun at me, when he just wanted her for himself…how _dare_ he…" James was fuming. "Get the map, Sirius, find out where he is."

"Time for a bit of retribution, is it?" Sirius said elatedly, perusing his Marauder's Map. "I've found him, let's go."

James and Sirius burst into a corridor, and side-by-side they charged impressively down the hall, wands raised. Peter scurried behind the to keep up. Lupin didn't join them, but he leaned against the wall, one knee bent and arms folded, his eyes narrowing in on their target. Snape stood at the end of the corridor, staring at his intimidating advancers.

"What do you want?" Snape said when they'd reached them, but James threw him back against the wall. He slumped almost to the floor.

"How dare you!" James shouted at him, pointing his wand at his neck.

Snape immediately sensed what he was talking about. A bead of sweat formed on his brow as he looked up at James. "Who told you—"

"And after you called her a Mudblood!" he interrupted, outraged.

Snape shrunk lower against the wall. "I didn't mean that," he said bitterly. "And now she won't even talk to me anymore."

James' anger subsided when he said this. He lowered his wand. "So, she said no to both of us," he said quietly, realizing for the first time, he and Snape had something in common.

Snape took no notice of James' apparent sympathy. His face was still wrought with hatred. "I'll have you and your friends out of this school soon, Potter," he spat. "I know what you're doing with him—" He gestured towards Lupin, who stared back at him, surprised.

"Oh, you think so, Snape?" Sirius sneered. "Go down to the Whomping Willow later and press the large knot, if you want to see what we're doing." James looked at Sirius uneasily. "Sirius—," he started.

"Maybe I will," shot back Snape. "You can't scare me."

"Think you're clever, don't you, Snape?" Sirius continued. "Well, we'll see if that's true soon…" He and Peter turned to leave; James followed them with a nervous look on his face.

"You shouldn't have done that," James muttered.

"Why not?" Sirius scoffed. "You think he's actually gonna figure it out, or are you scared for him?" Suddenly, they heard Lupin shout '_Protego_!' from beside them. Snape had tried to jinx them from behind, but Lupin had shielded them.

"Nice one, Lupin," Sirius said admiring, looking at Snape whom the jinx had backfired on.

"Thanks," he replied, and they left Snape there in the hallway.

It was late at night. James was sprinting down the corridor as fast as he could. He was alone.

Suddenly, Lily appeared from around the corner. "What are you doing?" she called to him curiously.

James stopped, breathless. "Can't talk," he told her, panting. "Snape—trouble—need to save him." He ran off, leaving Lily there with a look of wonderment admiration on her face.


	7. Chapter 7

Sonia 

Sonia was on a plane. In a few hours, she'd be back to the place where she'd spent most of her childhood. Her entire seven years at Hogwarts, all the time she'd spent learning spells, charms, and making friends, would all be for nothing. She had been forbidden to bring anything from Hogwarts, including her wand, into the U.S, for only Muggles lived in the U.S, and wizards weren't allowed to perform magic there.

She arrived at the airport in Biloxi, nearly empty handed, and was greeted by the man who ran the institution where she was to stay. He was a handsome, dignified, older man, and had raised Sonia until she was eleven.

"Mr. Kent!" she cried. She ran over to him, and threw her arms around him.

"Sonia," he said softly, rubbing her back. "It's been so long…" He smiled at her. "You look as lovely as ever." He gestured her over to a nearby car. "Let's get you back home," he said walking her over to the car. They immediately began talking about her school—Sonia had a lot of difficulty explaining the details without giving away that it was actually a magic school, but they conversed smoothly all the same. But as Sonia got ready to step into the car, she noticed a man staring at her from about 25 yards away. He was alone, and learning casually against a nearby pole. She couldn't see him very clearly; he was lurking in a shadow. She turned to see if he was looking at anything behind her, but when she found nothing there, she concluded that he was, in fact, staring at her. She had gotten used to this sort of attention at Hogwarts, but she glared at him all the same. As her piercing eyes met his, she was surprised to find he did not look away. She decided to ignore him and got into the car.

Mr. Kent drove Sonia back to the institution.

"You really don't have to stay here, you know," he said half-heartedly. "I mean, I know that you're all right, honestly, it seems silly—"

Sonia waved her hand. "Oh, no Mr. Kent, where else would I go? Anyway, I wouldn't want to leave you." He grinned over at her, and they pulled into the parking lot at the asylum.

Not having anything to unpack, Sonia resolved to immediately start a letter to Sirius. She sat in the lobby with a pen and paper, and started to think.

"Why don't you go up to your bedroom?" suggested Mr. Kent, watching her take her seat in the lobby.

"It's alright, I'm fine where I am," she replied casually. She preferred the lobby the loneliness of her bedroom. A wide variety of interesting people came through the lobby, and Sonia made many acquaintances when sitting in her usually seat by the window.

No sooner than she had written 'Dear Sirius' on the top of her page, the man from the airport entered the lobby. Her heart missed a beat. She watched him glance around the room, and she tried to hide her face behind her paper. He hadn't seen her. He walked up to the reception desk, and started talking to the secretary.

Sonia, however, found she had a hard time not staring at him. Although she found his presence in the asylum odd and disturbing, she noticed something that she had not noticed before—he was incredibly attractive. Even more intriguing than his arrival was his perfectly proportioned features that Sonia could not take her eyes from. As she observed him, she saw he was clearly charming the secretary—she laughed girlishly an pointed a finger in Sonia's direction. She watched him slowly turn from the reception desk, and to her horror, he started to walk over to her. She had a fleeting desire to run away, but as he moved closer, she realized that she was rooted to her chair. He strutted over to her, and he grabbed a nearby chair and sat down next to her.

"Hi," he said casually, leaning over to her. She tried to look away, but she found she couldn't stop staring into his dark eyes.

She found herself speechless. After a few awkward moments, she found her voice. "What do you want?" she said coldly.

The man just shrugged his shoulders, and leaned even closer to her. His lips were just inches from her chin. He turned his head slightly. "Who's Sirius?" he asked her, smiling. "Your boyfriend?" Sonia didn't answer. She continued to stare at him coldly, and waited for him to speak again.

He held out his hand, which was white as a ghost. "I'm James," he said flashing his teeth, which were shockingly whiter than his skin.

"I'm—I'm—" Words escaped her again as she sat there, petrified. Suddenly, Mr. Kent entered the lobby. Sonia found she was able to tear her eyes away from James. He looked over at Mr. Kent as well, and to Sonia's confusion, Mr. Kent had a look of terror in his eyes. James got up from his seat, and towered over Sonia. He reached out and forcefully grabbed the back of her neck, and let out a burst of haunting laughter. Sonia's eyes widened in terror as she sat there, frozen in her seat. His hands were like ice. After a few moments in agony, he released her, and Sonia felt a wave of relief wash over her as she watched him walk towards the exit. He paused before he walked out, and Sonia saw him mouth something to Mr. Kent, with an evil gleam in his eye.

Sonia rushed over to Mr. Kent. "Who—who was that?" she said, shaken.

"Sonia," he replied, clearly disturbed as well. "Come into my office."

They entered Mr. Kent's office, which, unlike the rest of the bright building, was dark, but inviting all the same. Sonia took a comfortable seat and Mr. Kent sat at his desk. She felt as if she was about to be disciplined, until she saw the distressed look on Mr. Kent's face.

"There's something I need to tell you, Sonia darling," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. "I know it may seem preposterous—I probably should've told you a long time ago—but I'm…" Sonia waited for him to finish, watching him intently.

"Sonia, I am a vampire," he said.

"Oh," she replied, unsure of how to react. "Okay."

He eyes her suspiciously. "I didn't really expect you to believe me," he admitted. "I thought I'd have a bit of convincing to do."

Sonia stayed silent, wishing she could tell him that after spending the last seven years as a witch, finding out someone was vampire wasn't as remotely shocking as one would think. "I guess… I know that you wouldn't lie to me," she told him. But then something dawned on her. "Oh…" she said slowly, with a dazed look in her eye. "Was that—James—a vampire also?"

He nodded. "At least that's out of the way," he said with a somewhat relieved expression.

"What is he doing here?" she asked.

Mr. Kent looked nervous again. "I wish there was some other way I could tell you this, but for the sake of time…" He hesitated. "If I am not mistaken, I believe he intends to kill you."

"What!" exclaimed Sonia, taken aback. "Why?"  
Mr. Kent looked uncomfortable. "I don't—really feel I can tell you why. It's…" He shook his head. "Either way, it doesn't really matter why. If he wants to kill you, he will. You won't be able to run, or hide, or escape him. He has your scent—will be able to find you."

Sonia eyes widened in horror. "So—what am I going to do? And wait… why didn't he just kill me before?"

"He isn't hungry," Mr. Kent said. Sonia became instantly nauseated. "He's waiting, or saving you, because he doesn't think I'm going to do what I'm about to do."

"And what is that?" Sonia said with an edge to her voice.

Mr. Kent grabbed her wrist and held in up. He had an intense and urgent look on his face, and she had never felt more frightened. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "But I can't let you die." He sunk his teeth into her wrist, and then she felt everything turn to darkness.

"Hello?" Mr. Kent answered the telephone minutes after he'd bitten Sonia.

"Hel—Hello?!" shouted a voice in the receiver. "Mr. Kent! This is Miss Trelawney! Sonia Trelawney's mother! Can you hear me?! Tell me if you can hear me!"

"Please, Miss Trelawney, stop shouting," he said back into the receiver. "Haven't you ever used a telephone before?"

"I know something has happened to my daughter," she said in a lower, but no loss calmer voice. "Is she hurt?"

"Well at the moment, she's a bit, um, unconscious—"

"I'm coming down there to see her… I'll be there immediately." Mr. Kent heard the receiver click on the other line. He sat there, overwhelmed at the unexpected phone call; Sonia's mother so rarely checked up on her. But then, she was a Seer, like her daughter, and probably knew if she was in any trouble. Which explained her harried phone call.

Suddenly, Miss Trelawney burst into the room, causing Mr. Kent to jump out of his seat. He put a hand to his forehead, astonished.

"When you said immediately, you sure did—"

"I apparated here, course, now where is my daughter?" she said in a panicked voice. Mr. Kent didn't know what 'apparated' meant, but something occurred to him as he stared at the woman with frazzled black hair and oversized glasses (who was clearly not who Sonia had gotten her looks from) who was holding a funny-looking stick out in her hand.

"Are you—are you a witch?" he said with a look sudden comprehension.

"Mr. Kent, you know there are vampires, werewolves and Seers, _surely_ you can't be surprised about the existence of witches, can you?" she said sternly.

"No wonder you couldn't use the telephone," Mr. Kent muttered, but he was ignored as Miss Trelawney shrieked at the sight her unconscious daughter in the chair.

"She's just passed out," he said. "I had to turn her into a vampire—let me explain!" he added, seeing the look on Miss Trelawney's face. He quickly informed her about James, and what he had done.

"But couldn't you have seen that?" he asked her curiously.

She looked at him coldly. "I cannot See everything, as those more enlightened than you are aware, but I sensed danger, luckily much less than she would've been in if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had found her." Mr. Kent didn't asked who He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was, and didn't want to think about someone who could me more dangerous than James.

"He could still kill Sonia as a vampire," he said worriedly. "And he could be back here at any time."

"I know," she said frantically. "I can't take her back with me, and I can't leave her here."

"Why can't she stay with you?" Mr. Kent asked accusingly.

"_He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named will use her and kill her!_" she cried. "Why do you think I never was able to come see her? I couldn't risk _him_ finding out where I was hiding her!"

"Why didn't anyone tell me this before? All this time, I thought you just didn't feel like taking care of her…"

"Mr. Kent, I love my daughter as much as you do," she said. "You have given her protection, by turning her into a vampire, and I thank you, even though I wish it did not have to be so." She was shaking. "And now I must give her my protection. I'll relocate her, somewhere in the U.S."

"Where are you going to relocate her?"

"Forgive me, but I won't be able to tell you. I want her location as Untraceable as possible… and I'll have to use a Memory Charm on her as well," she said tearfully.

"So… I'm never going to see her again?" he asked hoarsely.

"Unfortunately Mr. Kent," she said sadly. "I won't be able to either."

They both looked at Sonia's body in the chair. Mr. Kent felt overwhelmed with grief. She looked so peaceful, so innocent, and not aware in her unconscious state that two of the most deadly villains in the world were after her. He reached out and touched her shoulder. Miss Trelawney was sobbing.

"I missed so much," she choked. "Her entire childhood, I only had her letters…Well, goodbye, Mr. Kent. Thank you for everything." She pointed the tip of her wand at Sonia's forehead.

"_Obliviate._"

Then she grabbed Sonia's hand and disappeared in the room.

Mr. Kent stood there, frozen. He would never see her again. But in the back of his mind lingered another thought that he wished Miss Trelawney had given him some closure on. _What would James do to him when he came back and found Sonia had gone?_


	8. Chapter 8

**James and Lily**

The boys were in their seventh year at Hogwarts. Sirius, Lupin, and James entered the Hogwarts, the three of them confident that this year would be their easiest, considering they had already mastered most of the material needed for their final year. They took their usual seats at the Gryffindor table, for the start-of-the-term feast.

"I can't believe they made you Head Boy, Prongs," Sirius complained, though he was smiling. "After all the trouble we got into…"

"I don't believe it myself," replied James, shining his badge with his sleeve for the hundredth time. "And after Moony got the prefect's badge, who would've expected--"

James paused as he saw Lily passing by where they were sitting. She also wore a shiny badge also, meaning she had been made Head Girl. James flung around in his seat as she walked by. He smirked at her, pointing to his badge.

"Well," she said, tossing her long red hair. "I see _someone's_ straightened himself out this year…" She couldn't help smiling as she spoke. She walked passed him and sat at her seat at the other end of the table.

"Yes!" James said in a low voice, pumping his fist.

"Well done," said Lupin, leaning over to congratulate him.

"As if your head needed to get any bigger," said Sirius, giving a friendly clap on the back. They continued with their dinner. Once or twice James thought he saw Lily looking at him, but on second glance, she was simply talking with her friends. The feast ended, and the Gryffindors made their way up to their common room. Most of them went up to their dormitories, but James and Lily, being Head Boy and Girl, were obligated to patrol the corridors for a bit. James slowly paced the halls, bored and alone. He turned down one particularly long hallway, finding it deserted. There didn't seem to by anyone who wasn't in their common room, until he turned the next corner.

He found Lily standing there facing a gang of Slytherins. They seemed amused at something—he couldn't tell what. He moved a bit closer to hear what they were saying.

"So," said a large Slytherin sixth year called Grenilin. "Who'd have thought they'd let a _Mudblood_ become the Head of their house?" The group laughed along with him, finding what he had said hysterical.

"You should all be in your rooms now," Lily said sharply.

"_Really_," continued Grenilin, ignoring her. "They would never let one of those in the Slytherin house—"

James immediately advanced on the group. He shot a curse at Grenilin, who fell backward into his group. "Detention!" he shouted from behind Lily.

She spun around to face him. "I don't need help from you," she snapped. "I have just as much authority as you do!"

"I never said that you didn't!" James shot back.

Just then, Grenilin, who was on the floor, shot a spell at Lily that made her fall into James. He caught her in his arms. She looked up at him, frozen, there faces just inches apart. James' heart stopped. He'd never been so close to Lily before… her lips were so close to his…She started to stay something, but she stopped, and just stayed there in his arms.

The group of Slytherins laughed as they scattered off to their room. James and Lily stood there alone in the hallway. Lily seemed to come to her senses, and backed away from James.

"Sorry," she said, clearing her head. "I mean thanks, or both I guess…"

"Don't mention it," James said shrugging.

There was a brief silence as Lily looked down and shifted her feet, as if waiting for him to say something.

"So, um, can I escort you back to the common room?" James asked, slightly discomforted.

Lily looked away from him. " Oh—if you really want to," she said, sounding indifferent.

"No—well, I just thought since we were going to the same place and everything…"

"Oh no, go ahead, it's fine," Lily said quickly. There was another brief silence.

Finally, James grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her towards him. He gestured down the hall with his other hand.

"Shall we go?" he asked. Lily smiled as they walked off together down the corridor.


	9. Chapter 9

The Secret-Keeper 

As the years passed, Sirius and Lupin visited Washington almost every summer. Lupin spent most of time there with Emily and Sam. This left Sirius feeling very awkward, because he and Sam never got along the way they used to. Sometimes Sirius brought James along to keep him company. For many years went by peacefully- there were no vampire attacks and the three stayed very close. To Sirius dismay, he had never heard from Sonia. He talked about her with James, who couldn't understand what happened.

"She was _crazy_ about you, too," James said, scratching the back of his head. "I can't understand why she would ignore your letters."

"I know," said Sirius, "I sent them by owl and by Muggle post, she had to have gotten them, right? But even so, I'd rather have her ignore the letters than have something happen to her. You think—you think she's alright?" he finished unsteadily.

"I don't think there's anyway of knowing, mate," James said sadly.

It had been four years since the three friends had graduated from Hogwarts. Lupin and Sirius were going back to Washington for the summer, as usual. Now that they could Apparate, they could land on Sam's front doorstep in an instant.

"Welcome back," Sam greeted as they walked into his house. They made their way into the kitchen, and Lupin saw Emily was already there.

"Sam and I were just having some tea," she said. Lupin held her face in his hands and gave her a gentle kiss. "I missed you so much," he told her softly. Emily gave him a small smile. Behind them, Sam cleared his throat.

"So, um, no James this summer?" he asked them.

"Nah, he stayed back to take care of his wife," replied Sirius.

"Young to be married, isn't he? Who did he marry?"

"He married Lily Evans—I remember he always liked her. She just had a baby actually, a son named Harry. They asked me to be the godfather also," Sirius added.

"I can't say that I'm happy James stayed behind, with Voldemort being so close to that area," said Lupin.

"It doesn't matter, Lupin," replied Sirius. "As long I don't tell him personally where James and Lily are hiding, they can't be found."

"Whose Voldemort?" asked Emily, who, being non-magical, was unaffected by the use of the name.

"He the Dark Lord of the wizarding world. He's been after the Potters for a while now, but they won't be able to find them. Albus Dumbledore helped us perform a charm that made me a sort of—a "Secret Keeper". Voldemort can only find them if I tell him."

Sam looked confused. "Then isn't Voldemort going to come after you, then?"

"Well, he doesn't know it's me."

"But it's pretty obvious that James would confide in his best friend with the secret, don't you think? What if he tracked you down and forced you to tell him or something?"

"Look, I'd die before I'd give James and Lily up. I don't care what he does to me," said Sirius defiantly.

"Wait—maybe Sam is right, Sirius," Lupin said thoughtfully. "You may be prepared to die, but he could torture it out of you. He could force you to take a Veritiserum or something—"

"You don't think I could take Voldemort if he came after me?" snapped Sirius.

"He's the most powerful Dark wizard in the world! And he'd probably catch you by surprise—before you'd even know what happened, and force it out of you," said Lupin.

"It won't—I won't let it happen," he said shortly, but he hesitated.

He stared at them thoughtfully. He finally nodded in agreement. "You know, maybe I'll have to go back to London and tell them to change their secret-keeper. Maybe we'll use Peter… Voldemort would never expect it."

"Go for it," encouraged Sam. And with a wave of his wand Sirius apparated to Godric's Hollow, where James and Lily were staying.

Sam stared at the empty space where Sirius had just vanished. "I'll never get used to that," he said, shaking his head. He turned to Lupin. "What does this Voldemort want with James and his wife?"

Lupin shrugged. "No one knows for sure, expect Dumbledore maybe. I think he was the one that told James that Voldemort was after them, but I don't know if he told him the reason."

"That's horrible," said Emily, her eyes wide. "To be hiding from someone that wants to kill you, and you don't even know why. I could never…" She shuddered. "I always like James. I hope nothing happens to him."

"Come in, Sirius," said James, greeting him with a hug.

"Hello James, and Lily," he said, kissing her on the cheek. "And how's little Harry?" he said with a smile, lifting Harry into the air.

"What brings you here, Sirius?" James asked.

Sirius smile faded as he put Harry back down. "I can't stay long really, but I need to talk to you about the Fidelus Charm. Lupin, Sam and I were talking, and we agreed it's best if I wasn't your Secret-Keeper."

"What are you talking about?"

"You must understand, I am prepared die for you both. But Voldemort will probably be looking for me; I'm an obvious choice for the charm. And Voldemort won't kill me knowing that the secret dies with me. He'll torture me until I give you up, and then we'll all wind up dead."

The both looked at him curiously. Finally, Lily said softly, "He's right, James." She gently touched his shoulder.

"So then," James said, thinking. "Maybe Lupin…?"

"We were thinking Peter could do it," said Sirius. "Voldemort would never expect it."

"I don't know if Peter's strong enough," replied James, running his hands through his hair.

"There's no one Peter admires more than you," said Sirius. "I can't see him giving you up, let alone Voldemort ever thinking it was him."

"Are you sure about this Sirius?" asked Lily, looking worried. She held Harry in her arms, and cradled the back of his head. "I couldn't bear if anything happened to Harry." A small tear formed at the corner of her eye, as she gazed upon her child lovingly.

"It's the only way," Sirius insisted.

"Okay Sirius," said James. "I know you would never betray me, but I trust you."

"I'll bring Peter by tomorrow to do the switch," said Sirius confidently. And he left a skeptical looking James and Lily alone in the house.


	10. Chapter 10

The Lone Wolf 

Back in Washington, Lupin had decided to take Emily up to Canada for some hunting. They hadn't been spending much time together, Lupin always found himself busy now that Voldemort had come to full power. Emily spent most of her days over at Sam's, which was fine with Lupin—he'd rather her be as far away from Voldemort as possible. But now Sirius was taking care of James and Lily, so he wanted to use this time to his advantage. Unfortunately, Emily requested Sam to accompany them. Lupin reluctantly agreed. She apparently hadn't picked upon on Lupin's desire to spend some time alone with her. However, he was still very good friends with Sam, and the three traveled upstate and rented a small little cabin for the week. Lupin had timed it so that they would be back when Sirius returned. He was able to hunt and fish with Sam, and Emily cooked delicious dinners for them both. Although Lupin and Sam were enjoying themselves, Lupin couldn't help but notice a certain sadness in Emily's eyes. She never seemed comfortable when she spoke to Lupin, and he had a horrible suspicion the she might only be staying with him because he had saved her life so long ago. On the last day of the trip, he asked Sam if he could take Emily to the lake privately so they could talk. Sam stayed back at the house while Lupin and Emily traveled to the river. He sat with her on the banks and looked at her lovingly. He tucked her hair behind her ear and kissed her on the forehead.

"Emily, my dear," Lupin whispered softly. "There's never been anyone that's made me as happy as you have. I never thought I'd find someone who accept me as a werewolf."

"I don't think of you as a werewolf, Remus," she told him. "I don't know, maybe it has something do with me growing up around werewolves…but you being one has never distracted me from who you actually _are_."

"And I love you more than anything for that," he told her. Emily did not meet his eyes. He saw a tear run down her cheek.

"Is there anything wrong, Emily?" he asked her gently.

Emily cast her eyes out over the river. "Remus," she said softly. "I really like you, I do—you're an amazing person. But I don't think we should be together anymore."

Lupin's eyes widened in horror. "Emily—why not?" he asked.

"Well, we've been together for a long time, and I just don't think it's going anywhere," she replied.

"Emily, please, we can work this out. If you leave me, I don't think I'll ever be able to be with anyone else…what have I done?"

"Nothing, Remus," she said. "You've been wonderful. It's just that…I'm— I'm in love with somebody else."

Lupin stared at her. "Sam?" he asked quietly. Emily nodded. Lupin pressed his hands against his forehead, unable to hide his devastation.

"I can't believe he would do this to me," Lupin said heatedly. He stood up.

"Remus, please, it's not his fault," she said clinging to his sleeve. She seemed unsure of what to do—he rarely got angry.

"After all we've been through, how could he—? And you! How could you do this to me? All I ever did—all I ever did was love you!" Lupin felt himself swelling up.

"I'm so sorry, Remus. I don't know what else to say. I just don't love you the way I used to." He was losing control of himself. He didn't want to hurt Emily, but he felt himself starting to transform…

Suddenly, out of the bushes leaped a giant wolf. Sam, who had been watching them, ran toward Lupin. He jumped in front of Emily. "Leave her alone," he snarled at Lupin, protective of Emily.

He lunged forward at Sam, and the both of them fell down on top of Emily. They clawed at each other as Emily desperately tried to get out of the way. Lupin, blinded by his rage, took a swipe at Sam. Sam blocked it with his giant paw, and tried to return the hit with the other hand. He thrust his paw forward, but Emily was in the way. He scratched her face with his long claw, from the top of her forehead, down her neck and all the way down her arm.

Lupin was lost. He had nowhere to go. He roamed around the forest back in La Push, knowing he was not longer welcome in Sam's house.

He had run away as soon as the accident occurred. He wanted to remember Emily as she was. He knew she didn't need him anyway; she had Sam to take care of her. Although Sam was the one who had hit her, Lupin knew that it was just as much his fault as Sam's. After wandering around a bit more, he had an idea. He could stay with Sirius' cousin, Billy. At least until Sirius returned, which he knew would be any day now. He went over to Billy's and was greeted with a warm welcome.

"I heard about what happened, Lupin. I just want to tell you that I understand," Billy said sympathetically, as they sat outside on the porch. "My son's a werewolf now, and I can't believe what it's doing to him."

Lupin looked over at Billy's son, Jacob who was down the street always, leaning against a red truck. He was talking to a pretty girl with black hair. She seemed so tiny, but then Lupin realized it was only because Jacob had gotten so big.

"Jake and his friends Embry and Quil are all joining Sam's pack in a few weeks. Jake sure is nervous of course, but he knows it's the right thing to do."

"You must be pretty nervous, yourself," Lupin asked.

"Yeah, I'm a bit nervous for him," Billy replied. "Seeing what happened to you scared me a bit. I was too young to realize the different circumstances; that you were too young to handle it. But I won't let Jake miss out on the opportunity… I've spent a long time trying to make him see that becoming a werewolf isn't a curse."

Lupin wanted to argue, but stayed silent. He kept his eyes on Jacob. He seemed to really like the girl he was talking to, and he wondered if Jacob knew how hard it would be to be with her under his condition. He doubted that girl would want to be with some creature that could kill you if he ever lost control. The girl had left in the truck, and Jacob was walking back up to the house.

"That Bella Swan sure is something, ain't she Jake?" Billy laughed, with a twinkle in his eye.

Jacob sighed. "She's absolutely gorgeous, she's easy to talk to, she's the sweetest girl I've ever met…and it kills me to be around her," he said as he walked inside.

Lupin raised his eyebrow at Billy.

"He's had a thing for little Bella since he first met her," he explained. "But she ran off, chasing this filthy bloodsucker, and it just broke his heart."

"What, a vampire?" Lupin remembered the vampire he had killed, and wondered how any human could want to be with one of them.

"Well, this one was a little different…he and his family don't exactly hunt humans. That's why we let them live on our land. And according to Jake, Bella's crazy over one of them; I think his name was Edward or something. One of the Cullens. Anyway, he goes and just leaves her one day, typical, and Bella's all upset and she goes to Jake with all her problems. Jake puts up with it because he likes her, but he knows she'll never care about him the way she did for Edward."

Lupin sat in silence. He knew exactly how Jacob felt.

Jacob came back out of the house. "When's Sirius coming back?" he asked them. "He took Sam's old motorcycle from my shed, and I hadn't finished fixing it up. I hope it doesn't explode or something when he's riding it."

"He should be back today," said Lupin.

"Thanks," Jacob replied, retreating back into the house. Despite Lupin's current state, couldn't help feeling a wave of fondness for Jacob; he was so much like Sirius. He had always idolized him, even though he wasn't that much older, but Lupin never realized how similar they were until now. _His looks, his attitude, his passion for motorbikes… except Sirius usually got all the girls he wanted_, Lupin remembered. But Sonia had abandoned Sirius, just as Emily had done to Lupin, and now this Bella was doing it to Jacob. He felt a pang of anger in his chest. He got up and entered the house after Jacob.

"Hey—Jake," Lupin called. He turned to look at Lupin.

"What's up?" he asked.

"I just wanted to let you know, if you ever need my help with anything, don't hesitate to ask," Lupin said seriously.

Jacob looked at him curiously. "Help with what?"

"Anything," Lupin said. "I mean, with being a werewolf, or dealing with vampires… if there's one you know of and you need someone to take care of him, just tell me."

Jake hesitated. "I think—I'm okay, yeah."

"Are you sure?" Lupin asked.

"It's tempting, but I couldn't do that to Bella," he answered. He seemed to know exactly what Lupin was implying. "Thanks though. I'll let you know if I change my mind." He flashed a smile and left the room. Lupin sadly watched him go. He knew he wouldn't ever be able to let himself get close to another girl. He couldn't live with himself if he ever inflicted that pain onto another human again. Vampires, however, didn't count.

"Greyback!" called Voldemort, who was standing in the graveyard again. He was surrounded my many of his followers, and stood around him a half-circle, waiting to obey his every order.

"Yes, my Lord," said Fenrir, stepping out of the semicircle. He walked up to Voldemort, and bowed.

He looked down upon him sternly with his hands behind his back. "I have been very pleased with the way you have been carrying out my orders over the last few years. You have successfully driven many vampires out of the US, and your people there think that you are doing it for their protection… a very neat plan, I must say."

"I thank you, my Lord," Fenrir said graciously.

"However," he continued. "I will no longer need you to carry out the plan any longer. I do not need the vampires aid, for in a few days, I will have consolidated my power over Europe."

"What, may I ask, has brought about this change in plans?" asked Fenrir, hiding how annoyed he was that all of his work had been done for nothing.

Voldemort looked at him coldly. "I normally don't permit my orders to be questioned," he said, giving him a piercing stare. The he turned to face all of the Death-Eaters. "But in this case, I can only be too content to share." They all murmured in excitement. "In just a few days time," he said dramatically. "The only one with the power to vanquish me shall be destroyed." He gave a wicked smile as the Death Eaters gave their praise.


	11. Chapter 11

**Peter **

The transition had been completed. Sirius was no longer the Potter's secret keeper, and he was ready to go back. He knew Voldemort would be looking for him, so he wanted to get back to Washington as fast as possible. However, as he got ready to go back to La Push, he decided he should go check on Peter. "Just to see how he's holding up," he thought to himself as he arrived at Peter's house.

He hopped on his motorbike, which he had borrowed from Sam and had bewitched it to fly. He rode to Peter's house, and knocked on the door. He waited there patiently, but there was no answer. He knocked again. No answer.

A knot formed in Sirius stomach. James said he would be here. What if Voldemort had somehow found out about Peter? A wave of nervousness washed over him as he broke in the house, but found no evidence of a struggle of any sort.

Sirius stood there, confused. There only reason Peter wouldn't be here was if Voldemort had found him. But that couldn't be—there was no sign of a struggle. Peter couldn't have gone to Voldemort willingly…he didn't waste another moment thinking about it, but just fled from the house and flew to Godric's Hollow. He ran inside the Potter's house, and to his horror, found James and Lily dead on the floor.

"No…" Sirius croaked at the sight of his best friend lying on the ground, pale and unmarked. He was undoubtedly dead. He desperately searched his mind… there had to be something he could do… he looked over at Lily. She and James had such a short time together, he thought as his stomach flipped at the sight of her mangled body. She was strewn on the floor beside Harry's crib—Harry, who had barely gotten the chance to live…

Never had Sirius felt such a grief in his life. Voldemort had murdered his best friend's family. Peter had given up the secret to Voldemort. And worst of all, it was under his recommendation! He felt sick, and he suddenly heard a cry. Through his tears, he peered over a small crib incredulously, and saw Harry. He had a small scar on his forehead.

Sirius stared at him in bewilderment. Why did Voldemort leave Harry? And where did he get that scar? It wasn't there yesterday. Sirius gazed in wonderment at the baby, and came to a realization.

_Was Voldemort not able to kill him?_ he thought, looking at the small child. He picked Harry up, and examined him. He looked perfectly fine, except for the little mark on his forehead. He took him outside, to find an abnormally large man waiting for him.

"Can I help you, Hagrid?" asked Sirius.

"Lily and James, Sirius, I can' believe it," he wept. "I'm supposed ter take Harry here ter Dumbledore," he said, wiping his eyes. "Don' miss a beat, tha' Dumbledore."

"I'm his godfather, Hagrid, I'll take him."

"I can' let you do tha', Sirius, I got Dumbledore's orders," replied Hagrid.

"Please Hagrid, don't take my godson away from me," Sirius begged. His eyes were wet with tears. "Please…"

"Dumbledore's orders, Sirius," said Hagrid desperately.

"Okay then," sighed Sirius. He had lost all confidence in his own judgement. "Take the bike, I won't be needing it anymore."

"Thanks, Sirius," said Hagrid as he rode away.

Sirius watched him ride away on Sam's bike. He couldn't believe what had just happened. But then something occurred to him that made him feel even sicker. The only one's who knew that Peter was the Potter's Secret-Keeper were Lily and James. Everyone would think that he, Sirius, betrayed his best friend… he would probably be arrested. But he didn't care so much about himself at the moment. All he knew was that he wanted Peter Pettigrew to die.

Peter was cornered. He stood there, against the brick wall, staring into Sirius' murderous eyes with terror. He kept both hands behind his back, his face pale green.

"Thought you could hide among the Muggles, Peter?" Sirius said, his voice deathly soft. "Thought you could run from me?"

Peter whimpered and cowered back against the wall in fear.

"I am going to kill you Peter," Sirius said, shaking slightly. "But first tell me, exactly how long did it take after I gave you the secret did you run off the Voldemort to betray your best friends?" Peter mumbled something unintelligible under his breath. He looked past Sirius at the street behind him where the Muggles passed by, as if looking for someone to help him. But no one noticed the two standing here. Sirius drew his wand.

"What was that, Peter?" Sirius asked sharply, pointing the wand at Peter's neck. "I didn't quite catch…"

"The Dark Lord," Peter said with a slightly stronger voice, "will reward me beyond all his other servants."

Sirius gave him a nasty smile. "Not if your dead," he said, driving the tip of his wand farther into Peter's neck. Peter looked down, and slowly drew a small knife from behind his back. "Do you honestly think you can fight me with a knife?" he sneered.

But then Peter did something that made Sirius lower his wand. Peter took the knife, and started to slice off his own finger. Blood spurted from his hand as he began to sob. "Lily and James, Sirius," Peter cried, loud enough for the whole street to hear. His finger fell to the floor. "How could you?" Peter gave Sirius a smile as he slowly reached for his back pocket for his wand. It took Sirius two seconds to figure out what Peter had planned. Sirius raised his wand and apparated out of the street just as an explosion burst from behind him.

"Dumbledore?" Lupin asked the man who had just appeared in front of him. They were in Billy's kitchen, and Lupin was still waiting for Sirius to return.

"I don't have a lot of time, Remus," Dumbledore said. "I'm afraid I have some very bad news. But I pray you will save you're grief until you are in a position of safety."

"What's wrong?" asked Lupin worriedly.

"Remus, James and Lily are dead. I've just been informed that Sirius had given them up to Lord Voldemort. Peter Pettigrew went after him, I've been told, and he killed him as well. I must ask that you come with me, Remus, to Hogwarts for your own protection. Sirius has killed two of his three best friends already, and I can only fear that you are next."

"He couldn't have!" croaked Lupin, overwhelmed by what he had just heard. "Sirius said he was going to have Peter be their Secret Keeper, that's why he left!"

"Is that so?" Dumbledore asked thoughtfully. "I don't see how that could be true though, considering that Peter attempted to go after Sirius… knowing Peter, he would've gotten as far away from the scene as possible." He paused. "And Sirius surely wouldn't have done it without letting me know."

Lupin found himself gasping for breath. "It just doesn't make any sense!"

"Remus, there will be a time for grief, but now I must ask that you leave this area immediately and come with me to Hogwarts. You can teach there if you like, but I want you to be nearby."

"Will Sirius be put in Azkaban?" Lupin asked hoarsely.

"What else would you expect?" replied Dumbledore.

"No it's just—I don't think then I could be in much danger then, right?"

"Until Black is apprehended—"

"I shall stay with you," Lupin finished. "For any period Black is on the loose, I shall stay with you in Hogwarts."

"Thank you for seeing reason, Remus. I know what a terrible shock this is," said Dumbledore. " But I shall also expect you to continue your duties to the Order of the Phoenix… as I have predicted, the other members are fully accepting of your condition and are grateful for your help." They quickly disapparated from the house.


	12. Chapter 12

A Dementor, Three Vampires and a Werewolf 

Sirius found himself back in Washington. He desperately searched for Lupin, but he wasn't anywhere to be found. He ran along the streets, unsure of what to do. He had been framed for the murder of his best friend and his family, Peter Pettigrew, and there must've been Muggles killed in the explosion, so he would be framed for that too…

He continued to run along the streets. The few people that were out gave him curiously glances as he ran by. The Ministry of Magic would be after him soon, he thought, but that didn't matter, he could get past them. But who would ever believe he was innocent?

Sirius passed a group of three strangers who stared at him as he went by. They were standing by a bright yellow car. Two were men, tall and pale. They whispered to each other, their dark eyes still staring at Sirius. The third, a tiny young girl, caught his eyes. Sirius stopped running and looked at the girl in wonderment. He approached the group slowly, not taking his eyes off the girl.

"Can we help you?" the taller one asked stiffly. Sirius ignored him, concentrating on the girl. She looked incredibly familiar. "Sonia?" he asked incredulously.

She looked at him nervously. "Um, I think you must be thinking of someone else… my name is Alice," she said uneasily.

Sirius looked at her for a moment. It was positively Sonia, but she looked, if possible, even more beautiful than ever, and it seemed to Sirius that she hadn't aged at all since they'd last met. Although _he_ was five years older, he couldn't see how she couldn't recognize him.

"Don't you remember me?" Sirius asked anxiously. "We went to school together, a long time ago—"

"Look, we're waiting for someone, so if you'll excuse us—" started the taller one, but Alice cut him off.

"I think I'm a little young to have gone to school with you—no offense," she said quickly.

"No, you did, and you went to the end-of-the-term dance with me," he insisted. "Can't you remember?"

"You must be mistaken," she told him. She flashed a smile at the shorter man, who was looking agitated. It was the same smile she had given Sirius so long ago. "Relax, Jasper," she said to him.

"How long ago was this?" the taller man asked thoughtfully.

"Edward, I've never seen him before!" Alice shrieked. She turned to Sirius. "Please, you must have me confused with someone else—"

"How come you never wrote to me?" Sirius asked, frowning.

"What's he talking about, Alice?" Jasper asked sharply.

"Jasper, please," the one called Edward interrupted. He turned to say something to Sirius, but before he could, a large group of official looking wizards appeared before him. Sirius froze as he looked around at them, realizing that they were from the Ministry. With them, he saw, was a large cloaked dementor.

"Sirius Black," said the Minister, reading off a piece of paper, "We have a warrant for your arrest—" The group of wizards started to close in around him.

"And your immediate relocation to Azkaban—"

Sirius drew his wand, but was still focused on Alice. "Sonia," he pleaded. "Just tell me that you remember me, or something, please."

"On the account of the murder of Peter Pettigrew—"

Alice shook her head sympathetically. "I can't—"

"And nineteen other Muggles within the area—"

The officials closed in on Sirius and shot some spells toward him. He blocked them easily. He sent a few of them flying backwards, trying to buy himself more time with Alice.

"How come you don't remember? You—you told me that you loved me, remem—_why are you shaking your head_?" Sirius continued to hold off the other wizards, but now with some difficulty. After a brief period, it had seemed like they had given up, until the dementor, who had mostly stayed out of the picture until now, glided over to Alice. It reached out and placed a large, bony hand on her neck. She shivered upon its touch.

"What are you doing," Sirius said angrily to the minister.

"It's quite simple," the minister said calmly. "You come quietly, and we spare her from the dementor."

"You can't use her as leverage!" snarled Sirius.

"Oh, I believe we can," he replied with a smirk on his face. "And this dementor here is particularly good with young girls… he attacked a girl from around here who had just suffered a loss and she wasn't the same for months, did some major damage to her soul… that was unauthorized, of course, but still…"

The dementor's presence cast darkness over all of them. Sirius looked at the terror on Alice's face, and couldn't imagine what effect the dementor was having on her. He slowly lowered his wand.

As soon as he did this, the officials rushed over to restrain him. But the dementor did not leave Alice's side.

"Tell it to stop!" shouted Sirius to the minister, who was being withheld by six men.

"He will," the minister said with a wave of his hand, not even looking at them. "Take him to Azkaban."

"No—wait!" cried Sirius. A strange look passed over Alice's face.

"Sirius Black?" she said slowly as Edward and Jasper looked at her in wonderment. "I think—I remember." she called as the officials dragged Sirius off the Azkaban.

"You remember him?" asked Edward, after Alice had gotten over the shock of the dementor.

"I actually think I do," she told him wide-eyed. "That thing—the large black thing—how did it make you feel?"

"Cold…terrible," replied Edward with a shudder. "And it made me remember the time I was in Port Angeles with Bella, and she was about to be attacked… it was horrible."

"The same thing happened to me," explained Alice. 'I just had flashes of that man—Sirius—at a place I didn't recognize. He was much younger, and I was telling him that I couldn't ever see him again. But yours was a real memory, Edward, and I don't remember that ever happening to me."

"Maybe it did happen," replied Edward, deep in thought. "It might've happened back when you were a human."

"That's ridiculous," Jasper said, aggravated. "He was just some lunatic, nothing he said was true. I mean, he said that you loved him."

"I'm not sure," Alice said. "What Edward says is certainly plausible—in my vision I didn't look the way I do now, I looked more like a human."

"We should find him," Edward said immediately. "Track him down. Alice, I think he could unlock many secrets from your past. I read his mind—he didn't seem as if he was lying."

"Honestly, do you really think that's necessary? What does Alice's past matter anyway? She's with me now, and she's happy, aren't you Alice?" he said urgently.

"Jasper, nothing from my past could change how I feel about you," Alice replied gently. "But I don't think it could hurt to learn more about my past…where I came from…"

"So you're going to rely on the word of this complete stranger? Alice, he's a convicted murderer!"

"If you don't care enough about me to find out, then fine," she snapped. "Edward and I will just…will just…"

Two pale, dark-haired figures emerged from the distance, a large male and a tiny female. The male broke out into a run. The girl called out something to him, but when he ignored, she broke out into a run also, to catch up with him.

"Finally, Bella," Edward murmured, as they got close enough for recognition. "Oh, good," he added sarcastically. "You've brought company."

The two reached their destination, and Bella was panting slightly.

"Edward," she greeted affectionately, touching his shoulder. But the male rounded on him before she could say another word.

"Sirius!" he shouted at the three vampires. "What did you let them do to Sirius?"

"Jake!" Bella said sharply. But he did not calm down.

"You know that man?" asked Edward, surprised.

"_Know him? He was my cousin, you filthy, insensitive—_" bellowed Jacob.

Bella looked at Edward nervously, clearly expecting to react violently, but he merely looked curious.

"Your cousin?" he said calmly, but with interest.

"Did I stutter?" Jacob said furiously. "And you just stood there, and let him get taken away! You could've stopped them—"

"And why would we do that?" interrupted Jasper. "He wasn't anyone we knew." Alice gave him a guilty look.

"Then why was he talking to you, then?" he said, still shouting. "He must've known you somehow—"

"Jake, c'mon, there was nothing they could do," Bella said desperately. "They couldn't have helped your cousin, there were too many others. Relax, will you?"

"And honestly," said Edward as casually as if he was discussing the weather, "one less Black is really nothing to complain about—"

That had done it for Jacob—he lunged at Edward. But before he could do anything, Bella, Alice, and Jasper pulled him off. The three restrained him as he snarled at Edward. Edward got up, unperturbed by the attack.

"Jacob, you need to just calm down," Bella said fretfully, but her words went unheard as Edward walked over to where he was being held and looked him straight in the eye.

"I could kill you, you know," Edward said softly as he leaned close to Jacob. Bella let out a small shriek of terror, but Jacob was still fuming.

"Oh yeah, three on one, you really are—"

"I could kill you without them. You know the only thing stopping me is Bella," he said. "But try me, and I may just forget…" They both stared into each other's eyes. Only Alice and Jasper restrained Jacob now, Bella had moved closer to Edward, as if she thought he might attack.

"Answer me this," Edward continued. "What school did Sirius Black go to as a boy?"

"Couldn't tell you," said Jacob, voice full of hatred. He seemed surprised by the question. "He wouldn't tell anyone. There _was_ something pretty secretive about it, but I doubt you'll ever figure it out."

Edward glared at him for a moment, examining him. After a moment, he turned to Alice and Jasper. "He knows the school is in England," Edward said to them. "But other than that, there doesn't seem to be anything else he knows." Alice looked disappointed, and there was a look on Jacob's face that conveyed utter confusion and loathing.

"Alice," said Edward. "I don't really think we need to bother with anyone from the Black family anymore. He's not as important as I thought he was, I mean, he was a convicted murder…"

"He wouldn't do that, I know he's innocent!" Jacob said, shouting again. "And you, what, you've never killed anybody?" You just threatened to kill me!"

For the first time, Edward didn't seem to have a reply for Jacob. Alice and Jasper loosened their hold on him.

"You," Jacob said to Edward, shaking. "First I lose Bella because of you, and now Sirius…" He shook off Alice and Jasper who looked at him, almost sympathetically. He started to walk away, but turned back to the group. "You Cullens can all go to hell," he finished.

Angry looks replaced the sympathetic ones on Alice and Jasper. Edward looked as if he was going to shout at Jacob for the first time, but Bella intervened.

"Edward," she said softly, "I know you don't like him, but can you blame him?"

"Yes," Edward said defiantly, watching him leave.

"He's not really mad at you, he just need someone to take out on, and you're the easiest target…"

"Bella, love, tell him to pick a less dangerous target next time," he said.

Bella watched Jacob retreat from over her shoulder and turned back to Edward.

"I think I should go with him," she said.

"I thought you wanted to come to my place," he replied, his hands lingering on her waist.

"C'mon Edward," Bella said, placing her arms around his neck. "Of course I want to, but Jacob needs me right now."

Edward sighed. "He doesn't know how lucky he is, to have a friend like you."

"He does, Edward," Bella said quietly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, Bella," he told her. He leaned over and slowly started kissing her goodbye. She giggled and pulled back at bit, and Edward began kissing her neck instead.

"Hey Edward, you know, we can leave if you want us to," called Jasper.

Edward released Bella, and she smiled at him. Without another word, she ran to catch up with Jacob.

Edward's eyes trailed her as she left. "I swear," he said irritably. "One day, I'm just going to lose it with that Jacob."

"I don't think so Edward, I mean, you handled this pretty well," said Alice soothingly.

"Yeah?" Jasper said to Alice. "Threatening to kill your girlfriend's best friend, I don't know…"

"He's right Alice," Edward replied, running his hands through his hair. "I shouldn't have done that, at least not with Bella there."

"Well, are we still going to try and find Sirius?" Alice asked.

"I really don't think it's that important," replied Edward.

"You just don't want to because you found out he's related to Jacob!" Alice cried.

"Don't get upset, Alice, we just got over it," said Jasper.

Suddenly, a calm expression took over her face. She smiled at Jasper. Edward's face looked relaxed as well.

"Why don't we just go home now?" Jasper said, looking satisfied with himself.

"I know what you just did," said Alice, but she was smiling at him.

"Come Alice, let's go," Edward said soothingly.

"If you both say so," Alice shrugged. Sirius Black was now far from her thoughts.

It didn't take Bella too long to catch up with Jacob. He was considerably close. From the look on his face, he'd seen Edward's intimate goodbye. Bella looked at him uncomfortably, and then threw her arms around him. Jake gave a sudden jolt backward.

"Look Bella, I don't know if you think—like, you're doing me a favor by doing that, but you've gotta stop. I don't want you leading me on anymore."

"Sorry," Bella said sadly. "And Jacob, I'm really sorry about your cousin. I know how much you liked him."

"It's alright," Jacob said grimly. "I suppose there was nothing they could do anyway, not against a dementor." He thought for a moment. "If they've got a dementor lurking around here, I bet it got to you a couple months back."

"I'm sorry—a what?" asked Bella.

"A dementor," repeated Jacob. "Didn't you see it? It didn't take your soul, but mighta damaged it temporarily—oh yeah, I forgot humans can't see them. There these huge, black cloaked things—they'd be pretty cool if they didn't make you so miserable."

"I wish I was like you and could see it," Bella said, looking down the road where the event had occurred. She noticed the Cullens had not driven away yet.

Jacob raised his eyebrows. "You wish you were a werewolf?"

"No—I just meant I wanted to see them…"

Jacob turned away. "Vampires can see them too, anyway," he muttered.

"Wait—are there _female_ werewolves?" Bella asked.

"What, you want to be one?" Jacob said harshly.

"Well, no, I was just cur—"

"Then don't ask."

There was a brief silence. Jacob sighed. "Go back to Edward," he said wearily. "I'm fine, I know you want to."

"No really, I'll stay here—"

"Go!" shouted Jacob, but not angrily. "You can try to take care of me, but I'm taking care of you. And I want you to go where you're happy."

Bella looked at him blissfully. "Oh, Jake, I could kiss you…"

"Bells, this is what I'm talking about," Jacob said. She looked at him apologetically. His voice was soft. "I'm not giving up on you, Bella. I'm always going to care for you. And if you're Romeo ever falls—" he beckoned to where Edward was standing down the road, "—I'll be here waiting for you."


	13. Chapter 13

Harry 

Sirius sat there in Azkaban, staring out the window in his cell. I▓m innocent, he thought to himself, I▓m innocent┘ His most horrible memories had come to haunt him. He repeatedly saw James▓ dead body on the floor, then Lily▓s, and the more he saw them, the more he cursed himself.  
He looked around the dark room, in a state of depression much greater than one had ever felt. Everyone thought he was a traitor and a murderer. Lupin, Sonia, (or ▒Alice▓, he thought bitterly), Dumbledore, the entire Order┘ and then something occurred to him that was too much to bear. Harry, his godson, would think that he, Sirius Black had murdered his parents. How he would hate him, Sirius thought, when Harry found out. He had to get out of here. He knew it was impossible, but he had to try. There▓s got to be away, he thought, glancing around the cell. Nothing came to mind. I▓ve got an eternity in here. I think of something eventually. He cast bitter looks at his inmates, disgusted with his company. None of them even considered escape, but Sirius knew that he would have to. He wouldn▓t give up. He thought of his friends. Lupin, who had led a normal life, despite being a werewolf┘James, poor James, who had won over the girl of his dreams┘ Sam, who had done both┘ Sonia, who escaped Lord Voldemort┘ and he, he could get out of Azkaban. He continued to gaze out the window. He would not rest until Harry, the son of his best friend, knew he was innocent.

The End.

Thanks to everyone who read this! Please review, even if you didn't like it.


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